Job 12

Job’s Reply to Zophar

1 Then Job answered:

2 No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about? ^{▼▼Lit With whom are not such things as these
,} ^b

4 I am a laughingstock to my ^{▼▼Lit his} friends,
by calling on God, who answers me. ^{▼▼Lit him}
The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. ^e
5 The one who is at ease ^f holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.
6 The tents of robbers are safe ^g
and those who provoke God are secure;
God’s power provides this. ^{▼▼Or secure; to those who bring their god in their hands
,} ⁱ

7 But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;
ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. ^j
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;
let the fish of the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this? ^k
10 The life of every living thing is in His hand,
as well as the breath of all mankind. ^l
11 Doesn’t the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12 Wisdom is found with the elderly,
and understanding comes with long life. ^m

13 Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are His. ⁿ
14 Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released. ^o
15 When He withholds the waters, everything dries up,
and when He releases them, they destroy the land. ^p
16 True wisdom and power belong to Him.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away barefoot
and makes judges go mad. ^q
18 He releases the bonds ^{▼▼Text emended; MT reads discipline} put on by kings ^s
and fastens a belt around their waists.
19 He leads priests away barefoot
and overthrows established leaders. ^t
20 He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders’ good judgment.
21 He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms ^{▼▼Lit and loosens the belt of} the strong.
22 He reveals mysteries from the darkness
and brings the deepest darkness into the light. ^v
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges nations ^w then leads them away.
24 He deprives the world’s leaders of reason,
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. ^x
25 They grope around in darkness without light;
He makes them stagger like drunken men. ^y