New Living Translation

1 “Do you know when the wild goats give birth?<br>Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?<br> 2 Do you know how many months they carry their young?<br>Are you aware of the time of their delivery?<br> 3 They crouch down to give birth to their young<br>and deliver their offspring.<br> 4 Their young grow up in the open fields,<br>then leave home and never return.<br> 5 “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom?<br>Who untied its ropes?<br> 6 I have placed it in the wilderness;<br>its home is the wasteland.<br> 7 It hates the noise of the city<br>and has no driver to shout at it.<br> 8 The mountains are its pastureland,<br>where it searches for every blade of grass.<br> 9 “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed?<br>Will it spend the night in your stall?<br> 10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow?<br>Will it plow a field for you?<br> 11 Given its strength, can you trust it?<br>Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?<br> 12 Can you rely on it to bring home your grain<br>and deliver it to your threshing floor?<br> 13 “The ostrich flaps her wings grandly,<br>but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.<br> 14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth,<br>letting them be warmed in the dust.<br> 15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them<br>or a wild animal might destroy them.<br> 16 She is harsh toward her young,<br>as if they were not her own.<br>She doesn’t care if they die.<br> 17 For God (Elohim) has deprived her of wisdom.<br>He has given her no understanding.<br> 18 But whenever she jumps up to run,<br>she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.<br> 19 “Have you given the horse its strength<br>or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?<br> 20 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?<br>Its majestic snorting is terrifying!<br> 21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength<br>when it charges out to battle.<br> 22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid.<br>It does not run from the sword.<br> 23 The arrows rattle against it,<br>and the spear and javelin flash.<br> 24 It paws the ground fiercely<br>and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.<br> 25 It snorts at the sound of the horn.<br>It senses the battle in the distance.<br>It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.<br> 26 “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar<br>and spread its wings toward the south?<br> 27 Is it at your command that the eagle rises<br>to the heights to make its nest?<br> 28 It lives on the cliffs,<br>making its home on a distant, rocky crag.<br> 29 From there it hunts its prey,<br>keeping watch with piercing eyes.<br> 30 Its young gulp down blood.<br>Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”<br>