| Chapter 39 |
1 | 'Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
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2 | Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
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3 | They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They end their labor pains.
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4 | Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and don't return again.
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5 | 'Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
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6 | Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
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7 | He scorns the tumult of the city, Neither hears he the shouting of the driver.
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8 | The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
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9 | 'Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
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10 | Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
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11 | Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
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12 | Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, And gather the grain of your threshing floor?
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13 | 'The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the pinions and plumage of love?
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14 | For she leaves her eggs on the earth, Warms them in the dust,
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15 | And forgets that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild animal may trample them.
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16 | She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
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17 | Because God has deprived her of wisdom, Neither has he imparted to her understanding.
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18 | When she lifts up herself on high, She scorns the horse and his rider.
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19 | 'Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
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20 | Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
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21 | He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength: He goes out to meet the armed men.
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22 | He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed; Neither does he turn back from the sword.
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23 | The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and the javelin.
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24 | He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, Neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
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25 | As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
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26 | 'Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, And stretches her wings toward the south?
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27 | Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, And makes his nest on high?
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28 | On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, On the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
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29 | From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
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30 | His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.'
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