Job 12

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¹Then Job answered and said,

²“No doubt you are the people; wisdom will die with you.

³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am something for my neighbor to laugh at— I, one who called on God and who was answered by him! I, a just and blameless man—I am now something to laugh at.

⁵In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune; he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is slipping.

⁶The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God feel secure; their own hands are their gods.

⁷But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will declare to you.

⁹Which animal among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this?

¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Does not the ear test words just as the palate tastes its food?

¹²With aged men is wisdom; in length of days is understanding.

¹³With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.

¹⁴See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again; if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.

¹⁵See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up; and if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁶With him are strength and wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.

¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow; he turns judges into fools.

¹⁸He takes off the chain of authority from kings; he wraps a cloth about their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot in sorrow and overthrows mighty people.

²⁰He removes the speech of those who had been trusted and takes away the understanding of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt upon princes and unfastens the belt of strong people.

²²He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.

²³He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them; He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.

²⁴He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth; he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunk man.