1
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“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn? |
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2
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Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth? |
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3
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They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn. |
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4
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Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return. |
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5
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Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness? |
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6
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I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling. |
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7
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He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver. |
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8
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He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing. |
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9
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Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? |
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10
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Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you? |
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11
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Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him? |
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12
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Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? |
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13
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The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork. |
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14
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For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand. |
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15
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She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them. |
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16
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She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain. |
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17
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For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding. |
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18
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Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider. |
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19
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Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane? |
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20
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Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? |
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21
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He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle. |
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22
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He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword. |
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23
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A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance. |
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24
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Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds. |
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25
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At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor. He catches the scent of battle from afar—the shouts of captains and the cry of war. |
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26
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Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south? |
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27
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Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high? |
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28
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He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag. |
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29
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From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar. |
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30
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His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.” |
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