New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 “Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?
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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 know how many months they carry their young? Are you aware of the time of their delivery?
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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 to give birth to their young and deliver their offspring.
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when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
4 Their young grow up in the open fields, then leave home and never return.
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Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
5 “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? 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 have placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland.
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I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places.
7 It hates the noise of the city and has no driver to shout at it.
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He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
8 The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass.
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He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that's green.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?
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"Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you, volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?
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Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo and getting him to till your fields?
11 Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?
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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 rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver 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 ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the 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 top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.
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She lays her eggs on the hard ground, leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them or a wild animal might destroy them.
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Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked or trampled by some wild animal.
16 She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.
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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 has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.
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She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure, wasn't given her share of good sense.
18 But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.
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But when she runs, oh, how she runs, laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.
19 “Have you given the horse its strength or clothed 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 Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!
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Did you create him to prance proudly and strike terror with his royal snorts?
21 It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength when it charges out to battle.
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He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited, then charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear and is unafraid. It does not run from the sword.
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He laughs at danger, fearless, doesn't shy away from the sword.
23 The arrows rattle against it, and the spear and javelin flash.
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The banging and clanging of quiver and lance don't faze him.
24 It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.
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He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast races off at a gallop.
25 It snorts at the sound of the horn. It senses the battle in the distance. It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.
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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 “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar 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 Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?
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Did you command the eagle's flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
28 It lives on the cliffs, making its home on a distant, rocky crag.
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Perfectly at home on the high cliff-face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
29 From there it hunts its prey, keeping watch with piercing eyes.
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From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance.
30 Its young gulp down blood. Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.”
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Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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.