39:1 “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you seen deer in labor?
39:2 Can you tell how many months they carry their young? Do you know when they give birth,
39:3 when they crouch down and bring forth their young, when they deliver their fawns?
39:4 Their young become strong, growing up in the open; they leave and never return.
39:5 “Who lets the wild donkey roam freely? Who sets the wild donkey loose from its shackles?
39:6 I made the ‘Aravah its home, the salty desert its place to live.
39:7 It scorns the noise of the city and hears no driver’s shouts.
39:8 It ranges over the hills for its pasture, searching for anything green.
39:9 “Would a wild ox be willing to serve you? Would it stay by your stall?
39:10 Could you tie a rope around its neck and make it plow furrows for you?
39:11 Would you trust its great strength enough to let it do your heavy work,
39:12 or rely on it to bring home your seed and gather the grain from your threshing-floor?
39:13 “An ostrich’s wings beat wildly, although its pinions lack plumage.
39:14 It leaves its eggs on the ground and lets them be warmed by the sand,
39:15 forgetting that a foot may crush them or a wild animal trample on them.
39:16 It treats its chicks heartlessly, as if they were not its own; even if her labor is in vain, it really doesn’t care;
39:17 because God has deprived it of wisdom and given it no share in understanding.
39:18 When the time comes, it flaps its wings, scorning both horse and rider.
39:19 “Did you give the horse its strength? Did you clothe its neck with a mane?
39:20 Did you make him able to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is frightening!
39:21 It paws with force and exults with vigor, then charges into the battle;
39:22 mocking at fear, unafraid, it does not shy away from the sword.
39:23 The [rider’s] quiver rattles over it, [his] gleaming spear and javelin.
39:24 Frenzied and eager, it devours the ground, scarcely believing the shofar has sounded.
39:25 At the sound of the shofar it whinnies; as from afar it scents the battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.
39:26 “Is it your wisdom that sets the hawk soaring, spreading its wings toward the south?
39:27 Does the eagle fly up when you say so, to build its nest in the heights?
39:28 It lives and spends its nights on the cliffs; a rocky crag is its fortress.
39:29 From there it spots its prey, its eyes see it far off.
39:30 Its young ones suck up blood; wherever the slain are, there it is.”
Your support helps pay our hosting costs, and
- with a little bit extra -
lets us pay transcribers and proofreaders.
If you can help, Click here to become a Patreon:
www.patreon.com/IslamAwakened Thank you!