1 “ Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?

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

3 T hey bow themselves, they bear their young. They end their labor pains.

4 T heir young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.

5 “ Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 W hose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?

7 H e scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.

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

9 “ Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?

10 C an you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?

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

12 W ill you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?

13 “ The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love?

14 F or she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,

15 a nd forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.

16 S he deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,

17 b ecause God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.

18 W hen she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.

19 “ Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?

20 H ave you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.

21 H e paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.

22 H e mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.

23 T he quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.

24 H e eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

25 A s often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 “ Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?

27 I s it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?

28 O n the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.

29 F rom there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.

30 H is young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”