1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? |
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth? |
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended. |
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return. |
5 "Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied his ropes? |
6 I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat. |
7 He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout. |
8 He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing. |
9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night? |
10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you? |
11 Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him? |
12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor? |
13 "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. |
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand, |
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them. |
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain, |
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense. |
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider. |
19 "Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? |
20 Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting? |
21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray. |
22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword. |
23 The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance. |
24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. |
25 At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry. |
26 "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south? |
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high? |
28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold. |
29 From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar. |
30 His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he." |
