1 ARST Job, can you tell when female mountain goats are about to give birth? Have you watched the wild deer while their calves were being born? BSB BSB: “Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
2 ARST Do you know for how long these female animals will be pregnant? Do you know when they will have their babies? BSB BSB: Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth?
3 ARST They crouch down to give birth, and their babies come out. BSB BSB: They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn.
4 ARST The young animals grow up in the open fields. Once they are strong enough to leave their mothers, they do not return to them again. BSB BSB: Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
5 ARST Do you know why some donkeys wander around wild? Do you know why they are not still working for people? BSB BSB: Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
6 ARST I have given them a home in the desert plain. They are able to live in places where much grass does not grow. BSB BSB: I made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
7 ARST These wild donkeys do not like the noise in the cities. In the desert, they do not have to listen to the shouts of those who used to force them to work. BSB BSB: He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
8 ARST They wander over the hills to find food. They look for any plant that they can eat. BSB BSB: He roams the mountains for pasture, searching for any green thing.
9 ARST There are also oxen that are wild. You could not get one of those to work for you! It would not stay penned up at night by the place where you put food for your animals! BSB BSB: Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night?
10 ARST You could not make a wild ox pull a plow so that it would dig furrows in your fields. BSB BSB: Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
11 ARST Even though a wild ox is very strong, you could not depend on it to do difficult farm work. BSB BSB: Can you rely on his great strength? Will you leave your hard work to him?
12 ARST A wild ox would not help you to grow more crops than you could grow by yourself. BSB BSB: Can you trust him to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 ARST Now think about ostriches. They run very fast, flapping their wings as they go. But they do not take good care of their offspring. BSB BSB: The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
14 ARST Female ostriches are bad mothers, because lay their eggs and leave them on the ground. The eggs do stay warm in the sand. BSB BSB: For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
15 ARST But this is still not a good thing to do. Some wild animal could step on the eggs and crush them. BSB BSB: She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
16 ARST Ostriches do not care well for their chicks. They act as if the chicks do not belong to them. They do not seem to be concerned that their chicks might die and they would have laid their eggs for nothing. BSB BSB: She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
17 ARST Ostriches act this way because I did not give them good instincts. I did not enable them to understand how they should care for their eggs and chicks. BSB BSB: For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
18 ARST However, ostriches are still awesome birds. When they run, they can easily run faster than horses! BSB BSB: Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 ARST But I made horses to be very strong. I put beautiful flowing manes on their necks. BSB BSB: Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
20 ARST I enabled them to leap through the air as if they were locusts. They snort so loudly that they cause people to be afraid. BSB BSB: Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
21 ARST As horses prepare to rush into battle, they paw the ground, showing off their great strength. BSB BSB: He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.
22 ARST Horses seem to disregard danger as they go bravely into battle. They do not run away when enemy soldiers attack them. BSB BSB: He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing; he does not turn back from the sword.
23 ARST As horses run into battle, the quivers containing their riders’ arrows rattle against their sides. The spears and javelins that they are carrying flash in the sunlight. BSB BSB: A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and lance.
24 ARST Horses rush into battle as soon as an officer blows a horn to signal that the army should advance. The horses run very quickly, and they speedily reach the enemy lines. BSB BSB: Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
25 ARST When they hear someone blow the battle horn, horses neigh excitedly. They can smell a battle even from a distance. They hear commanders shouting orders to their soldiers{ and they know the battle will begin soon}. BSB BSB: 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.
26 ARST Now think about birds that hunt small animals and other birds. Do you know how hawks are able to stay in the air as if they were floating? Do you know how they sense when it is time to fly to a warmer place for the winter? BSB BSB: Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
27 ARST I gave eagles the ability to fly high up into the cliffs and build their nests there. BSB BSB: Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
28 ARST Eagles live on cliffs. They are safe among the high, pointed rocks there because no animals can get to them. BSB BSB: He dwells on a cliff and lodges there; his stronghold is on a rocky crag.
29 ARST From that great height, eagles look for animals that they can kill and eat. They can see animals that are far away. BSB BSB: From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.
30 ARST Eagles kill small animals and bring them back to their nests to feed their chicks. Eagles also go and eat dead bodies that they see lying on the ground.” BSB BSB: His young ones feast on blood; and where the slain are, there he is.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.