Job 12
1 Then Job answered,
Then Job, answering, said:
2 “No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
Are you, therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you?
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which you know?
4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
He who is mocked by his friends as I am, will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the sincerity of the just that is being mocked.
5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.
The lamp that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the appointed time.
6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands.
The tabernacles of robbers are numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he who has given all things into their hands.
7 “But ask the animals now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fish of the sea will declare to you.
Speak with the earth, and it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain.
9 Who doesn’t know that in all these, Yahweh’s hand has done this,
Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made all these things?
10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
In his hand is the soul of all the living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind.
11 Doesn’t the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
Does not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating, perceive flavor?
12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
In old age is wisdom, and in length of days is prudence.
13 “With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
If he tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a man, there is no one who can open.
15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
If he restrains the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth, they will subdue the land.
16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
With him is strength and wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived.
17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to stupidity.
18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
He removes the belt of kings and encircles their waist with a rope.
19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
He leads away priests in dishonor and displaces nobles,
20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
altering the lips of those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of the aged.
21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.
He pours disdain upon the leaders, relieving those who had been oppressed.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.
He reveals the depths of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the light.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and, having been overthrown, he restores them anew.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
He transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and misleads those who in vain advance upon the inviolable.
25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and he will make them stagger like drunkards.
