Job 12

1 Then Job said [to his three friends],

Then 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 ye 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: yea, who knoweth 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 that is a laughing-stock to his neighbour, [a man] that called upon God, and he answered him: the just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

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.

In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

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 tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth [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 thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

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 thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

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

Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of LORD hath wrought 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].

Doth not the ear try words, even as the palate tasteth its meat?

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

With aged men 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 might; he hath 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 breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; he shutteth 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 withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; again, he sendeth 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 effectual working; 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 leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools.

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

He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth 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 leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth 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 removeth the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the elders.

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 poureth contempt upon princes, and looseth the belt of the strong.

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

He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth 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 increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he spreadeth the nations abroad, and bringeth them in.

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

He taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth 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 maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.