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Job 12

Job Chides His Accusers

¹Then Job responded,

2“Truly then you are the people,

And with you wisdom will die!

3“But I have intelligence as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

And who does not know such things as these?

4“I am a joke to my friends,

The one who called on God and He answered him;

The just and blameless man is a joke.

5“He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,

As prepared for those whose feet slip.

6“The tents of the destroyers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure,

Whom God brings into 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 the hand of the Lord has done this,

10In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

11“Does the ear not put words to the test,

As the palate tastes its food?

12“Wisdom is with the aged,

And with long life comes understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

13“Wisdom and might are with Him;

Advice and understanding belong to Him.

14“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;

He imprisons a person, and there is no release.

15“Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;

And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

16“Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.

One who goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.

17“He makes advisers walk barefoot

And makes fools of judges.

18“He undoes the binding of kings,

And ties a loincloth around their waist.

19“He makes priests walk barefoot,

And overthrows the secure ones.

20“He deprives the trusted ones of speech,

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

21“He pours contempt on nobles,

And loosens the belt of the strong.

22“He reveals mysteries from the darkness,

And brings the deep darkness into light.

23“He makes the nations great, then destroys them;

He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

24“He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of intelligence

And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

25“They grope in darkness with no light,

And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.

Job

Chapter 12

12 of 42