1. “Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Can you observe the calving of deer?
2. Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time for when they give birth;
3. When they bow down and bring forth; and when they get rid of their birth pangs,
4. Their young ones are strong, they grow up in the open field; they go forth and do not return to them again.
5. Who has sent out the wild donkey free? Or who has loosed the bands of the swift donkey,
6. To whom I gave the wilderness for its home, and the salt land for its dwellings?
7. He scorns the tumult of the city; he does not hear the driver’s shouts.
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, or spend the night by your feed trough?
10. Can you tie the wild ox in the furrow with rope? Or will he harrow the valleys for you?
11. Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him?
12. Will you trust him, that he will bring home your seed and gather it to your threshing floor?
13. The wing of the ostrich beats joyously; though not like the stork’s pinions with its feathers.
14. For she leaves her eggs in the earth, and lets them warm in the dust,
15. And forgets that a foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may break them.
16. She treats her young roughly, as if not hers; for her labor is vanity without fear;
17. Because God did not endow her with wisdom, and He has not imparted to her understanding.
18. At the time she lifts herself up high, she scorns the horse and its rider.
19. Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20. Can you make him leap like a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrifying.
21. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; he goes on to meet the clash of weapons.
22. He mocks at fear, and is not terrified; and he does not turn back from the sword.
23. The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
24. He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage; and he does not stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.
25. When the ram’s horn sounds, he says, ‘Aha!’ And he smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26. Does the hawk soar by your wisdom? Will he spread his wings toward the south?
27. Does the eagle mount up at your command and make her nest on high?
28. She lives and abides on the rock, on the crag of the rock and the strong place.
29. From there she seeks food, and her eyes see it afar off.
30. And her young ones also suck up blood; and where the dead are, there she is.”
Copyright © 2024 A Faithful Version. All Rights Reserved