Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.
- KJV Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
- NKJV Their young ones are healthy, They grow strong with grain; They depart and do not return to them.
- NASB “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.
- NLT Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave home and never return.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The young grow strong in the open, then leave and never return to their mothers. God provides for each new generation in the wild.
Overview
The LORD traces the wild young from birth to independence in the open field. Without human oversight, they thrive and go their way. The verse celebrates God's care that carries creatures from birth to maturity entirely apart from human management.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 39:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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