1 “ Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth?

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

2 C an you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young?

Canst thou number the months that they fulfil, and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

3 T hey bow down, They bring forth their young, They deliver their offspring.

How they crouch down, they bring forth their young ones, and dismiss their pain.

4 T heir young ones are healthy, They grow strong with grain; They depart and do not return to them.

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

5 “ Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager,

Who freed the wild ass, and who loosed its bands?

6 W hose home I have made the wilderness, And the barren land his dwelling?

Unto whom I made a house in the wilderness, and his dwellings in the salty land.

7 H e scorns the tumult of the city; He does not heed the shouts of the driver.

He 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.

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?

Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee or abide by thy crib?

10 C an you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you?

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

11 W ill you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him?

Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

12 W ill you trust him to bring home your grain, And gather it to your threshing floor?

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

13 “ The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?

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

14 F or she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust;

Who leaves her eggs in the earth and warms them in dust

15 S he forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them.

and forgets that the foot may crush them or that the wild beast may break them.

16 S he treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern,

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

17 B ecause God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding.

because God caused her to forget wisdom and did not give her understanding.

18 W hen she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider.

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

19 “ Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder?

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

20 C an you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror.

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

21 H e paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms.

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

22 H e mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword.

He 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 javelin.

The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and the shield.

24 H e devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.

He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage; the sound of the shofar does not trouble him;

25 A t the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting.

for 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 your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south?

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

27 D oes the eagle mount up at your command, And make its nest on high?

Does the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest on high?

28 O n the rock it dwells and resides, On the crag of the rock and the stronghold.

She dwells and abides on the rock upon the crag of the rock and the strong place.

29 F rom there it spies out the prey; Its eyes observe from afar.

From there she seeks food, and her eyes behold afar off.

30 I ts young ones suck up blood; And where the slain are, there it is. ”

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