The LORD Speaks of His Creation

1Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor?

2Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth?

3They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars.

4Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them.

5Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds?

6I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land.

7He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector.

8He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants.

9Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall?

10Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you?

11Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him?

12Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor?

13The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.

14When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?

15She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them.

16She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.

17For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding.

18Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider.

19Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing?

20Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils.

21He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men.

22He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword.

23Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake.

24Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds.

25When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers.

26Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south?

27Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places?

28She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs.

29From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away.

30Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately.