Job 39
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"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
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Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
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They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
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Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
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"Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes?
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I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat.
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He laughs at the commotion in the town; he does not hear a driver's shout.
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He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing.
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"Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
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Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you?
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Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him?
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Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
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"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
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She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
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unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
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She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
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for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
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Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
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"Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
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Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
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He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.
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He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword.
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The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
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In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
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At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, `Aha!' He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
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"Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south?
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Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?
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He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold.
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From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar.
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His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he."