Job 12
1 Job answered:
2 “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!
3 I have understanding too, just like you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know things like these?
4 I have become a laughingstock to my friend—I, who called on God and was answered by him; the righteous, the blameless, has become a laughingstock.
5 A torch is despised in the thoughts of the one who lives at ease; it is ready for those whose feet are slipping.
6 The tents of robbers live in peace, and those who provoke God are secure—those whom God holds in his hand.
7 But ask the animals, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will tell 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 every human being.
11 Does not the ear test words, and the palate taste food?
12 Wisdom is found among the aged, and understanding in a long life.
13 With him are wisdom and strength; his are counsel and understanding.”
14 “If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt; if he shuts someone in, no one can open the door.
15 If he holds back the waters, they dry up; if he releases them, they devastate the land.
16 With him are strength and sound judgment; his are the one who errs and the one who leads astray.
17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes judges fools.
18 He loosens the bonds of kings and ties a belt around their waists.
19 He leads priests away stripped and brings down those who stand firm.
20 He takes speech from trusted men and takes discernment from the elders.
21 He pours contempt on nobles and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He reveals depths hidden in darkness and brings the shadow of death into the light.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them; he spreads nations out and leads them away.
24 He takes understanding from the leaders of the peoples of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
25 They grope in darkness, without light, and he makes them stagger like drunkards.”
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