New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
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Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth,
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Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?
3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young?
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They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.
4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and do not return to them.
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Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.
5 "Who has let the wild ass go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
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Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home, the salt land for its dwelling place?
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To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.
7 It scorns the tumult of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
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He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;
8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture, and it searches after every green thing.
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He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.
9 "Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your crib?
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Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes, or will it harrow the valleys after you?
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Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great, and will you hand over your labor to it?
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Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?
12 Do you have faith in it that it will return, and bring your grain to your threshing floor?
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Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?
13 "The ostrich's wings flap wildly, though its pinions lack plumage.
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Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth, and lets them be warmed on the ground,
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That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them, and that a wild animal may trample them.
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Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?
16 It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own; though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;
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She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.
17 because God has made it forget wisdom, and given it no share in understanding.
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For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft, it laughs at the horse and its rider.
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When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.
19 "Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with mane?
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Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?
20 Do you make it leap like the locust? Its majestic snorting is terrible.
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Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?
21 It paws violently, exults mightily; it goes out to meet the weapons.
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He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.
22 It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed; it does not turn back from the sword.
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In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.
23 Upon it rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.
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The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.
24 With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground; it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
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Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says "Aha!' From a distance it smells the battle, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
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When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.
26 "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?
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Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?
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Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home in the fastness of the rocky crag.
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On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.
29 From there it spies the prey; its eyes see it from far away.
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From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.
30 Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is."
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His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.