Job, 39

¹ “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the deer give birth to their young?

² Do you count the months that they must complete? Do you know the time when they give birth?

³ They crouch down when they give birth to their young, And their labor pains end.

⁴ Their young become strong and grow up in the open field; They go out and do not return to them.

⁵ Who set the wild donkey^*1 free, And who untied the ropes of the wild donkey?

⁶ I have made the desert plain its home And the salt land its dwelling.

⁷ It scorns the tumult of the city; It does not hear the shouts of the driver.

⁸ It roams the hills, seeking pasture, Looking for every green plant.

⁹ Is the wild bull willing to serve you? Will it spend the night in your stable?^*1

¹⁰ Will you hold a wild bull to the furrow with a rope, Or will it follow you to plow^*1 the valley?

¹¹ Will you trust in its great strength And let it do your heavy work?

¹² Will you rely on it to bring back your harvest,^*1 And will it gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, But can her pinions and plumage compare with the stork’s?

¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And she keeps them warm in the dust.

¹⁵ She forgets that some foot may crush them Or that a wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶ She treats her sons harshly, as if they were not hers; She has no fear that her labor may be in vain.

¹⁷ For God has deprived her of^*1 wisdom And given her no share in understanding.

¹⁸ But when she rises up and flaps her wings, She laughs at the horse and at its rider.

¹⁹ Are you the one who gives the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a rustling mane?

²⁰ Can you cause it to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying.

²¹ It paws the ground in the valley and exults mightily; It charges into the battle.^*1

²² It laughs at fear and is afraid of nothing. It does not turn back because of the sword.

²³ The quiver rattles against it, The spear and the javelin flash.

²⁴ Trembling with excitement, it surges forward,^*1 It cannot stand still at^*2 the sound of the horn.

²⁵ When the horn blows, it says, ‘Aha!’ It smells the battle from afar And hears the shouting of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶ Is it by your understanding that the falcon soars, Spreading its wings to the south?

²⁷ Or is it at your order that an eagle flies upward And builds its nest high up,

²⁸ Spending the night on a cliff, Dwelling in its stronghold on a rocky crag?^*1

²⁹ From there it searches for food; Its eyes look far into the distance.

³⁰ Its young sip up blood; And wherever the slain are, there it is.”