^9 (A)Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with ^(B)bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

^3 (A)A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and ^(B)a rod for the back of fools.

¹¹ who teaches us ^(A)more than the beasts of the earth
    and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

^6 (A)I have paid attention and listened,
    but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
    saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
    ^(B)like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
⁷ Even the stork in the heavens
    knows her times,
and ^(C)the turtledove, ^(D)swallow, and crane^[a]
    keep the time of their coming,
^(E)but my people know not
    the rules^[b] of the Lord.

¹⁸ I have heard ^(A)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(B)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.