Job 39:1-11

1 "Job, do you know when mountain goats have their babies? Do you watch when female deer give birth?

2 Do you count the months until the animals have their babies? Do you know the time when they give birth?

3 They bend their back legs and have their babies. Then their labor pains stop.

4 Their little ones grow strong and healthy in the wild. They leave and do not come home again.

5 "Who let the wild donkeys go free? Who untied their ropes?

6 I gave them the dry and empty land as their home. I gave them salt flats to live in.

7 They laugh at all of the noise in town. They do not hear the shouts of the donkey drivers.

8 They wander over the hills to look for grass. They search for anything green to eat.

9 "Job, will wild oxen agree to serve you? Will they stay by your feed box at night?

10 Can you keep them in straight rows with harnesses? Will they plow the valleys behind you?

11 Will you depend on them for their great strength? Will you let them do your heavy work?

Job 39:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 39

This chapter treats of various creatures, beasts and birds, which Job had little knowledge of, had no concern in the making of them, and scarcely any power over them; as of the goats and hinds, Job 39:1-4; of the wild ass, Job 39:5-8; of the unicorn, Job 39:9-12; of the peacock and ostrich, Job 39:13-18; of the horse, Job 39:19-25; and of the hawk and eagle, Job 39:26-30.