Job-12
v1
Then Job answered and said:
v2
“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
v3
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
v4
I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
v5
In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.
v6
The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.
v7
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
v8
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
v9
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
v10
In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
v11
Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?
v12
Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.
v13
“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
v14
If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.
v15
If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
v16
With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
v17
He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.
v18
He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
v19
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
v20
He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.
v21
He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.
v22
He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.
v23
He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
v24
He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
v25
They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.