12:1 Then Job responded, |
12:2 "Truly then you consider yourself the people, And with you wisdom will die! |
12:3 "But I have intelligence as well as you; I do not consider myself inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these? |
12:4 "I have become a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man I consider a joke. |
12:5 "He who feels at ease holds calamity in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip. |
12:6 "The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God feel secure, Whom God brings into their power. |
12:7 "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. |
12:8 "Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. |
12:9 "Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, |
12:10 In whose hand lies the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? |
12:11 "Does not the ear test words, As the palate tastes its food? |
12:12 "Wisdom resides with aged men, With long life comes understanding. |
12:13 "With Him reside wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding. |
12:14 "Behold, He tears down, and no one can rebuild; He imprisons a man, and cannot expect freedom. |
12:15 "Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth. |
12:16 "With Him reside strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him. |
12:17 "He makes counselors walk barefoot And makes fools of judges. |
12:18 "He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle. |
12:19 "He makes priests walk barefoot And overthrows the secure ones. |
12:20 "He deprives the trusted ones of speech And takes away the discernment of the elders. |
12:21 "He pours contempt on nobles And loosens the belt of the strong. |
12:22 "He reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light. |
12:23 "He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away. |
12:24 "He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth's people And makes them wander in a pathless waste. |
12:25 "They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them |