(“) Do you know when mountain goats give birth ? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn ?
Can you count the months they are pregnant ? Do you know the time they give birth ?
They crouch down and bring forth their young ; they deliver their newborn.
Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field ; they leave and do not return
Who set the wild donkey free ? Who released the swift donkey from the harness ?
- I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
He roams the mountains for pasture , searching for any green thing.
Will the wild ox consent to serve you ? ... Will he stay by your manger {at night} ?
Can you hold (him) to the furrow with a harness ? ... Will he plow the valleys behind you ?
Can you rely - great strength ? Will you leave your hard work to him ?
Can you trust to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor ?
The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully , but cannot (match) the pinions and feathers of the stork.
For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
She forgets that a foot may crush them , or a wild animal may trample them.
She treats her young harshly , as if not with no concern that her labor was in vain.
For God has deprived her of wisdom ; He has not endowed with understanding.
Yet when she proudly spreads her wings , she laughs at the horse and its rider.
Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane ?
Do you make him leap like a locust , (striking) terror with his proud snorting ?
He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength ; he charges ... into battle.
He laughs at fear , frightened of nothing ; he does not turn back from the sword.
A quiver rattles at his side , along with a flashing spear and lance.
Trembling with excitement , he devours the distance ; he cannot stand still ... when the ram’s horn sounds.
At the (blast of) the horn , he snorts with fervor. He catches the scent of battle from afar — the shouts of captains and the cry of war.
Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south ?
Does the eagle ... soar - at your command and make his nest on high ?
He dwells on a cliff and lodges there ; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
From there he spies out food ; his eyes see (it) from afar.
His young ones feast on blood ; and where the slain (are) , there he (is). ”