The Message Bible MSG
World English Bible WEB
1 "Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
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"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2 Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery,
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Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3 when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
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They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They end their labor pains.
4 Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
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Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and don't return again.
5 "Who do you think set the wild donkey free, opened the corral gates and let him go?
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"Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places.
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Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
7 He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
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He scorns the tumult of the city, Neither hears he the shouting of the driver.
8 He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that's green.
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The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
9 "Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you, volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
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"Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10 Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo and getting him to till your fields?
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Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
11 He's hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him, would you dare turn the job over to him?
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Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
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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Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, And gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13 "The ostrich flaps her wings futilely - all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
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"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
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For she leaves her eggs on the earth, Warms them in the dust,
15 Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal.
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And forgets that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild animal may trample them.
16 She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers. She cares nothing about anything.
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She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
17 She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure, wasn't given her share of good sense.
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Because God has deprived her of wisdom, Neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18 But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
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When she lifts up herself on high, She scorns the horse and his rider.
19 "Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
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"Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20 Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts?
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Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21 He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray.
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He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength: He goes out to meet the armed men.
22 He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn't shy away from the sword.
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He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed; Neither does he turn back from the sword.
23 The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don't faze him.
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The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and the javelin.
24 He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop.
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He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, Neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
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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As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 "Was it through your know how that the hawk learned to fly, soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
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"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, And stretches her wings toward the south?
27 Did you command the eagle's flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
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Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, And makes his nest on high?
28 Perfectly at home on the high cliff-face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
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On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, On the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
29 From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance.
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From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
30 Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."
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His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is."
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 World English Bible is in the public domain.