Job 12

1 Then Job said [to his three friends],

And Job answered and said,

2 “You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.

No doubt but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

3 But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yes, who knows not such things as these?

4 My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.

I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calls on God, and he answers him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

5 Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.

He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].

The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God brings abundantly.

7 “But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you:

8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you: and the fishes of the sea shall declare to you.

9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.

Who knows not in all these that the hand of the LORD has worked this?

10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

11 And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].

Does not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,

With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].

With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding.

14 If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].

Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again: he shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.

15 When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.

Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up: also he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.

16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.

With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.

He leads counsellors away spoiled, and makes the judges fools.

18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].

He looses the bond of kings, and girds their loins with a girdle.

19 He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.

He leads princes away spoiled, and overthrows the mighty.

20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.

He removes away the speech of the trusty, and takes away the understanding of the aged.

21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.

He pours contempt on princes, and weakens the strength of the mighty.

22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.

He discovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.

23 He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.

He increases the nations, and destroys them: he enlarges the nations, and straitens them again.

24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.

He takes away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”

They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them to stagger like a drunken man.