New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
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"Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?
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Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery,
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.
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when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.
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Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?
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"Who do you think set the wild donkey free, opened the corral gates and let him go?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.
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I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.
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He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.
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He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that's green.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?
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"Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you, volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?
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Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo and getting him to till your fields?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?
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He's hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him, would you dare turn the job over to him?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
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You wouldn't for a minute depend on him, would you, to do what you said when you said it?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
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"The ostrich flaps her wings futilely - all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
14 She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
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She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
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Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal.
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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She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers. She cares nothing about anything.
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
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She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure, wasn't given her share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
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But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
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"Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
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Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
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He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
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He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn't shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
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The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don't faze him.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
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He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
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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.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
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"Was it through your know how that the hawk learned to fly, soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
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Did you command the eagle's flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
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Perfectly at home on the high cliff-face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
29 From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
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From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance.
30 Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”
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Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.