1
“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth? Do you observe the deer writhing?
2
Do you number the new moons they fulfill? Do you know the time they give birth?
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They bow down; they bring forth their young; they send out their birth-pangs.
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Their young become strong; they grow in the open field; they go forth and do not return to them.
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Who sent the wild donkey free? And who loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
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whose house I made the desert plain and whose dwellings the salt land?
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It laughs at the multitude of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the taskmaster.
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It searches the mountains for its pasture and seeks after every green thing.
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Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Or does it lodge beside your feeding-trough?
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Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with its rope? Or does it harrow the valleys after you?
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Do you trust it because its strength is great? Or leave your labor to it?
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Do you trust it to return your seed and gather it to your threshing floor?
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The wing of the ostrich beats joyfully— is it the pinion and feather of lovingkindness?
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For she leaves her eggs to the earth and warms them upon the dust.
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She forgets that a foot may crush them or a living creature of the field trample them.
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She treats her sons harshly, as though not hers; her labor is in emptiness, without dread,
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because Eloah caused her to forget wisdom and did not portion understanding to her.
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At the time she lifts herself on high, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
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Do you give might to the horse? Do you clothe its neck with a mane?
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Do you make it leap like a locust? The majesty of its snorting is terror.
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It paws in the valley and rejoices in strength; it goes forth to meet weaponry.
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It laughs at dread and is not dismayed, and does not turn back from the face of the sword.
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The quiver rattles against it, the flame of spear and lance.
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With trembling and rage it swallows the earth; it does not stand still when the voice of the shophar sounds.
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At the sounding of the shophar it says, ‘Aha!’ From afar it smells battle, the thunder of captains and the shout.
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Is it from your understanding that the hawk takes flight, spreading its wings toward the south?
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Is it by your mouth that the eagle mounts up and raises its nest?
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It dwells and lodges on the rock, upon the tooth of the rock and the stronghold.
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From there it searches out food; its eyes behold from afar.
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Its young gulp blood; and wherever the slain are, there it is.”