1 ¶ Knowest thou the time when the mountain goats bring forth? Hast thou observed when the hinds calve?

2 C anst thou number the months that they fulfil, and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

3 H ow they crouch down, they bring forth their young ones, and dismiss their pain.

4 T heir young ones are healthy, they grow up with grain; they go forth and never return unto them again.

5 W ho freed the wild ass, and who loosed its bands?

6 U nto whom I made a house in the wilderness, and his dwellings in the salty land.

7 H e laughs at the multitude of the city, neither does he hearken to the voice of the exactor of tribute.

8 T he range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.

9 W ill the unicorn be willing to serve thee or abide by thy crib?

10 C anst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? Will he harrow the valleys after thee?

11 W ilt thou trust him because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

12 W ilt thou trust him, that he will bring home thy seed and gather it into thy barn?

13 ¶ Didst thou give beautiful wings unto the peacock, or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

14 W ho leaves her eggs in the earth and warms them in dust

15 a nd forgets that the foot may crush them or that the wild beast may break them.

16 S he is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers, not fearing that her labour is in vain,

17 b ecause God caused her to forget wisdom and did not give her understanding.

18 I n her time she lifts up herself on high; she scorns the horse and his rider.

19 ¶ Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

20 C anst thou make him leap as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is formidable.

21 H e paws at the earth and rejoices in his strength; he goes forth to meet the armed men.

22 H e mocks fear and is not afraid; neither does he turn his face from the sword.

23 T he quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and the shield.

24 H e swallows the ground with fierceness and rage; the sound of the shofar does not trouble him;

25 f or the blasts of the shofar fill him with courage; he smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the princes and the sound of the battle-cry.

26 ¶ Does the hawk fly by thy industry and stretch her wings toward the south?

27 D oes the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest on high?

28 S he dwells and abides on the rock upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.

29 F rom there she seeks food, and her eyes behold afar off.

30 H er young ones suck up the blood; and wherever the slain are, there she is.