Job 12 — NETB

12Verse 1Then Job answered:^{Verse 2}“Without a doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
^{Verse 3}I also have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
^{Verse 4}I am a laughingstock to my friends,
I, who called on God and whom he answered –
a righteous and blameless man
is a laughingstock!
^{Verse 5}For calamity, there is derision
(according to the ideas of the fortunate ) –
a fate for those whose feet slip!
^{Verse 6}But the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident –
who carry their god in their hands.

Knowledge of God’s Wisdom

^{Verse 7}“But now, ask the animals and they will teach you,
or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.
^{Verse 8}Or speak to the earth and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea declare to you.
^{Verse 9}Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
^{Verse 10}in whose hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all the human race.
^{Verse 11}Does not the ear test words,
as the tongue tastes food?
^{Verse 12}Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
^{Verse 13}“With God are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
^{Verse 14}If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
^{Verse 15}If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;
if he releases them, they destroy the land.
^{Verse 16}With him are strength and prudence;
both the one who goes astray
and the one who misleads are his.
^{Verse 17}He leads counselors away stripped
and makes judges into fools.
^{Verse 18}He loosens the bonds of kings
and binds a loincloth around their waist.
^{Verse 19}He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the potentates.
^{Verse 20}He deprives the trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the discernment of elders.
^{Verse 21}He pours contempt on noblemen
and disarms the powerful.
^{Verse 22}He reveals the deep things of darkness,
and brings deep shadows into the light.
^{Verse 23}He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he extends the boundaries of nations
and disperses them.
^{Verse 24}He deprives the leaders of the earth
of their understanding;
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste.
^{Verse 25}They grope about in darkness without light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.