39:1 Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
39:2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
39:3 They crouch down and bring forth their young their labour pains are ended.
39:4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds they leave and do not return.
39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes?
39:6 I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat.
39:7 He laughs at the commotion in the town he does not hear a driver’s shout.
39:8 He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing.
39:9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
39:10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you?
39:11 Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him?
39:12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing-floor?
39:13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
39:14 She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
39:15 unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
39:16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers she cares not that her labour was in vain,
39:17 for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
39:18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
39:19 Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
39:20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
39:21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.
39:22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing he does not shy away from the sword.
39:23 The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
39:24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
39:25 At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, `Aha!’ He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
39:26 Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings towards the south?
39:27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?
39:28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night a rocky crag is his stronghold.
39:29 From there he seeks out his food his eyes detect it from afar.
39:30 His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there isCHAPTER