1 "Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth? |
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young? |
3 They bow down, They bring forth their young, They deliver their offspring. |
4 Their young ones are healthy, They grow strong with grain; They depart and do not return to them. |
5 "Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager, |
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the barren land his dwelling? |
7 He scorns the tumult of the city; He does not heed the shouts of the driver. |
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he searches after every green thing. |
9 "Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger? |
10 Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you? |
11 Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him? |
12 Will you trust him to bring home your grain, And gather it to your threshing floor? |
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork's? |
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; |
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. |
16 She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, |
17 Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding. |
18 When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider. |
19 "Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? |
20 Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror. |
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. |
22 He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword. |
23 The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. |
24 He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded. |
25 At the blast of the trumpet he says, 'Aha!' He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting. |
26 "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south? |
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, And make its nest on high? |
28 On the rocks it dwells and resides, On the crag of the rock and the stronghold. |
29 From there it spies out the prey; Its eyes observe from afar. |
30 Its young ones suck up blood; And where the slain are, there it is." |