Job 12
old testament
- 1 Then Job answered and said,
- 2 No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.
- 3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
- 4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
- 5 In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
- 6 The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].
- 7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
- 8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
- 9 Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
- 10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
- 11 Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?
- 12 With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.
- 13 With [God] is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.
- 14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
- 15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
- 16 With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.
- 17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.
- 18 He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
- 19 He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.
- 20 He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
- 21 He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.
- 22 He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
- 23 He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
- 24 He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- 25 They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.