Job 12
Job Replies: The LORD Has Done This
[1] Then Job answered and said:
[2] “No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
[3] But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
[4] I am a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who called to God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
[5] In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
it is ready for those whose feet slip.
[6] The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hand.
[7] “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
[8] or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
[9] Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
[10] In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
[11] Does not the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
[12] Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days.
[13] “With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
[14] If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he shuts a man in, none can open.
[15] If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
[16] With him are strength and sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
[17] He leads counselors away stripped,
and judges he makes fools.
[18] He looses the bonds of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
[19] He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
[20] He deprives of speech those who are trusted
and takes away the discernment of the elders.
[21] He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
[22] He uncovers the deeps out of darkness
and brings deep darkness to light.
[23] He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
[24] He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
[25] They grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. (ESV)
