Job 12

Job Chides His Accusers

1 Then Job responded,

2 “Truly then ^ayou are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 “But ^bI have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And ^{▼▼Lit with whom is there not like these?}who does not know such things as these?
4 “I am a ^djoke to ^{▼▼Lit his}my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and ^fblameless man is a joke.
5 “ ^{▼▼Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease}He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 “The ^htents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God ⁱare secure,
^{▼▼Or He who brings God into his hand.}Whom God brings ^kinto their power.

7 “But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
8 “Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
9 “Who among all these does not know
That ^lthe hand of the Lord has done this,
10 ^mIn whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And ⁿthe breath of all mankind?
11 “Does ^othe ear not put words to the test,
As the palate ^{▼▼Lit tastes food for itself}tastes its food?
12 “Wisdom is with the ^qaged,
And with ^{▼▼Lit length of days}long life comes understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

13 “ ^sWisdom and ^tmight are with Him;
Advice and ^uunderstanding belong to Him.
14 “Behold, He ^vtears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He ^{▼▼Lit shuts against
,} ^ximprisons a person, and ^{▼▼Lit it is not opened}there is no release.
15 “Behold, He ^zrestrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He ^aasends them out, and they ^{▼▼Lit overturn}inundate the earth.
16 “Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who ^acgoes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
17 “He makes ^adadvisers walk ^{▼▼Or stripped}barefoot
And makes fools of ^afjudges.
18 “He ^agundoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 “He makes priests walk ^{▼▼Or stripped}barefoot,
And overthrows ^aithe secure ones.
20 “He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And ^ajtakes away the discernment of the elders.
21 “He ^akpours contempt on nobles,
And ^alloosens the belt of the strong.
22 “He ^amreveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 “He ^anmakes the nations great, then destroys them;
He ^{▼▼Or spreads out}enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 “He ^apdeprives the leaders of the earth’s people of ^{▼▼Lit heart}intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
25 “They ^argrope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them ^asstagger like a drunken person.