| Chapter 39 |
1 | Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds?
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2 | Dost thou number the months that they fulfil? and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
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3 | They bow themselves, they give birth to their young ones, they cast out their pains;
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4 | Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go forth, and return not unto them.
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5 | Who hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager,
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6 | Whose house I made the wilderness, and the salt plain his dwellings?
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7 | He laugheth at the tumult of the city, and heareth not the shouts of the driver;
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8 | The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
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9 | Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib?
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10 | Canst thou bind the buffalo with his cord in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
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11 | Wilt thou put confidence in him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
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12 | Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?
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13 | The wing of the ostrich beats joyously -- But is it the stork's pinion and plumage?
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14 | For she leaveth her eggs to the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,
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15 | And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may trample them.
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16 | She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern.
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17 | For +God hath deprived her of wisdom, and hath not furnished her with understanding.
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18 | What time she lasheth herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
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19 | Hast thou given strength to the horse? hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
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20 | Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible.
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21 | He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength; he goeth forth to meet the armed host.
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22 | He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from before the sword.
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23 | The quiver rattleth upon him, the glittering spear and the javelin.
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24 | He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, and cannot contain himself at the sound of the trumpet:
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25 | At the noise of the trumpets he saith, Aha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
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26 | Doth the hawk fly by thine intelligence, [and] stretch his wings toward the south?
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27 | Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make his nest on high?
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28 | He inhabiteth the rock and maketh his dwelling on the point of the cliff, and the fastness:
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29 | From thence he spieth out the prey, his eyes look into the distance;
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30 | And his young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he.
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