| The Message (MSG) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 "Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
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1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
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2 Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery,
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2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
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3 when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
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3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
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4 Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
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4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
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5 "Who do you think set the wild donkey free, opened the corral gates and let him go?
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5 "Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied his ropes?
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6 I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places.
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6 I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat.
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7 He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
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7 He laughs at the commotion in the town; he does not hear a driver's shout.
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8 He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that's green.
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8 He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing.
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9 "Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you, volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
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9 "Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
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10 Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo and getting him to till your fields?
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10 Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he till the valleys behind you?
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11 He's hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him, would you dare turn the job over to him?
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11 Will you rely on him for his great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to him?
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12 You wouldn't for a minute depend on him, would you, to do what you said when you said it?
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12 Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
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13 "The ostrich flaps her wings futilely - all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
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13 "The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
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14 She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
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14 She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
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15 Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal.
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15 unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
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16 She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers. She cares nothing about anything.
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16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
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17 She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure, wasn't given her share of good sense.
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17 for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
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18 But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
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18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
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19 "Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
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19 "Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
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20 Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts?
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20 Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
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21 He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray.
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21 He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray.
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22 He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn't shy away from the sword.
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22 He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword.
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23 The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don't faze him.
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23 The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
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24 He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop.
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24 In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
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25 At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily, smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off, catching the rolling thunder of the war cries.
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25 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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26 "Was it through your know how that the hawk learned to fly, soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
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26 "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south?
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27 Did you command the eagle's flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
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27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?
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28 Perfectly at home on the high cliff-face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
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28 He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold.
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29 From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance.
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29 From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar.
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30 Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."
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30 His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he."
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| Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved. (The Message Bible Online) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
