1 “ Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the deer giving birth?

Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!

2 C an you number the months that they carry their young? Or do you know the time when their young are born?

Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!

3 T hey get down and give birth to their young, and get rid of their pains.

They bow down, Their young ones they bring forth safely, Their pangs they cast forth.

4 T heir young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They leave and do not return to them.

Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.

5 “ Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has taken off the ropes which held the fast donkey?

Who hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?

6 I gave him the desert for a home, and the salt land for a place to live.

Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,

7 H e hates the noise of the city. He does not hear the calls of the man who drives him.

He doth laugh at the multitude of a city, The cries of an exactor he heareth not.

8 H e goes looking for grass to eat on the mountains. He looks for every green thing.

The range of mountains his pasture, And after every green thing he seeketh.

9 W ill the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he stay through the night by the food you give him to eat?

Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?

10 C an you tie the wild ox to a plow in the field? Will he follow you to plow the valleys?

Dost thou bind a Reem in a furrow his thick band? Doth he harrow valleys after thee?

11 W ill you trust in him because he is very strong, and leave your work to him?

Dost thou trust in him because great his power? And dost thou leave unto him thy labour?

12 W ill you trust him to return and bring your grain to your grain-floor?

Dost thou trust in him That he doth bring back thy seed? And thy threshing-floor doth gather ?

13 “ The wings of the ostrich wave with joy, but are they the wings of love?

The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.

14 F or she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them get warm in the dust.

For she leaveth on the earth her eggs, And on the dust she doth warm them,

15 S he forgets that a foot might crush them, or that the wild animal may step on them.

And she forgetteth that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field tread it down.

16 S he is bad in the way she acts toward her young, as if they were not hers. Her work of giving birth is for nothing, for she does not care.

Her young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain her labour without fear.

17 B ecause God has not given her wisdom or her share of understanding.

For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:

18 W hen she begins to run, she laughs at the horse and the horseman.

At the time on high she lifteth herself up, She laugheth at the horse and at his rider.

19 “ Do you give the horse his strength? Do you dress his neck with long hair?

Dost thou give to the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck a mane?

20 D o you make him jump like the locust? The powerful noise he makes with his nostrils fills men with fear.

Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting terrible.

21 H e hits his foot against the ground in the valley, and has joy in his strength. He goes out to meet the battle.

They dig in a valley, and he rejoiceth in power, He goeth forth to meet the armour.

22 H e laughs at fear and is not afraid. He does not turn back from the sword.

He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted, And he turneth not back from the face of the sword.

23 T he arrows and spears he carries make noise as they hit together.

Against him rattle doth quiver, The flame of a spear, and a halbert.

24 H e runs fast over the ground with shaking and anger. He cannot stand still at the sound of the horn.

With trembling and rage he swalloweth the ground, And remaineth not stedfast Because of the sound of a trumpet.

25 W hen the horn sounds, he laughs without fear. He smells the battle from far away. He hears the thunder of the captains, and the war cry.

Among the trumpets he saith, Aha, And from afar he doth smell battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.

26 “ Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading his wings toward the south?

By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?

27 I s it because the eagle is obeying you that he flies high and makes his nest in a high place?

At thy command goeth an eagle up high? Or lifteth he up his nest?

28 H e lives on a high rock. His strong place is on the mountain-top that is hard to reach.

A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.

29 F rom there he looks for his food. His eyes see it from far away.

From thence he hath sought food, To a far off place his eyes look attentively,

30 H e is where dead bodies are and his young ones drink the blood.”

And his brood gulph up blood, And where the pierced -- there he!