1“Do you know when mountain goats give birth?
Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
1“ Do you know the time of the bearing of the goats of the rock? Can you observe the twisting of the does?
2Can you count the months they are pregnant?
Do you know the time they give birth?
2Can you number the months they fulfill? Or do you know the time of their giving birth?
3They crouch down and bring forth their young;
they deliver their newborn.
3They bend down and squeeze out their young; their labor pains they send forth.
4Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field;
they leave and do not return.
4Their young ones are healthy; they increase in the field; they go forth and do not return to them.
5Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
5Who sent away the wild donkey free? And who opened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6I made the wilderness his home
and the salt flats his dwelling.
6whose I have made the Arabah house, the salt land as his dwelling?
7He scorns the tumult of the city
and never hears the shouts of a driver.
7He laughs at the tumult of the city; the shouts of the driver he does not hear.
8He roams the mountains for pasture,
searching for any green thing.
8He searches out the mountains for his pasture, and after every green thing he searches.
9Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
9Is the wild ox willing to serve you, or will he lodge by your manger?
10Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he plow the valleys behind you?
10Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with a cord, or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11Can you rely on his great strength?
Will you leave your hard work to him?
11Will you trust in him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor?
12Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
12Will you trust in him that he will bring back your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
13The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but cannot match the pinionsa and feathers of the stork.
13The wings of the ostrich rejoice, but are not the pinions of a stork and its feathers.
14For she leaves her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand.
14For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and upon the dust she warms them,
15She forgets that a foot may crush them,
or a wild animal may trample them.
15and she forgets that a foot may crush it, or that a creature of the field might tread over it.
16She treats her young harshly, as if not her own,
with no concern that her labor was in vain.
16Her young she treats harshly as though not unto her; her labor is in vain, without dread;
17For God has deprived her of wisdom;
He has not endowed her with understanding.
17for God made her forget wisdom, and He has not given a portion to her in understanding.
18Yet when she proudly spreads her wings,
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
18At the time she lifts herself up on high, she laughs at the horse and at its rider.
19Do you give strength to the horse
or adorn his neck with a mane?
19Have you given the horse strength? Did you clothe his neck with a mane?
20Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?
20Can you cause him to rush like a locust? The majesty of his snorting is terror.
21He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
he charges into battle.
21They dig in the valley, and he rejoices in strength; he goes forth to meet the weaponry.
22He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing;
he does not turn back from the sword.
22He laughs at dread and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the face of the sword.
23A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and lance.a
23Upon him rattles the quiver, the flame of the spear and lance.
24Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance;
he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
24With quaking and raging he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still because of the voice of the shofar.
25At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor.a
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shouts of captains and the cry of war.
25In the abundance of the shofar, he says, ‘Aha!’ And from afar He smells the battle, the thunder of captains and shouting.
26Does the hawk take flight by your understanding
and spread his wings toward the south?
26By your understanding does the hawk soar and spread his wings toward the south?
27Does the eagle soar at your command
and make his nest on high?
27Is it by your mouth that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?
28He dwells on a cliff and lodges there;
his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
28In the rock he dwells and lodges and his stronghold is upon the tooth of the rock.
29From there he spies out food;
his eyes see it from afar.
29From there he searches out food; from afar his eyes observe.
30His young ones feast on blood;
and where the slain are, there he is.”
30And his young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”