• 1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you keep watch over the calving of the deer?
  • 2 “Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth?
  • 3 “They kneel down; they bring forth their young; They send out their labor pains.
  • 4 “Their children become strong; they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.
  • 5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
  • 6 For whom I have set the desert plain as a home And the salt land as his dwelling place?
  • 7 “He laughs at the tumult of the city; The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.
  • 8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing.
  • 9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger?
  • 10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you?
  • 11 “Will you trust him because his power is great And leave your labor to him?
  • 12 “Will you believe him that he will return your seed of grain And gather it from your threshing floor?
  • 13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously But are they the pinion and plumage of a stork?
  • 14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust,
  • 15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a beast of the field may trample them.
  • 16 “She treats her children cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be empty, she is without dread,
  • 17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding.
  • 18 “When she raises herself up high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.
  • 19 “Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
  • 20 “Do you make him leap like the locust? His splendid snorting is terrible.
  • 21 “He paws in the valley and rejoices in his power; He goes out to meet the weapons.
  • 22 “He laughs at dread and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword.
  • 23 “The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin.
  • 24 “With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
  • 25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the commanders and the shout of war.
  • 26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
  • 27 “Is it at your command that the eagle goes on high And raises his nest high?
  • 28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, a fortress.
  • 29 “From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar.
  • 30 “His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.”