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