12:1 Then Job answered:
12:2 “Doubtless, you are the people,1
and wisdom will die with you.2
12:3 I also have understanding3 as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.4
Who does not know such things as these?5
12:4 I am6 a laughingstock7 to my friend,8
I, who called on God and whom he answered,9
—a righteous and blameless10 man
is a laughingstock!11
12:5 For calamity,12 there is derision
(according to the ideas of the fortunate13)—
a fate14 for those whose feet slip!
12:6 But15 the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident16—
who carry their god in their hands.17
Knowledge of God’s Wisdom18
12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they19 will teach you,
or the birds of the air and they will tell you.
12:8 Or speak20 to the earth21 and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea declare to you.
12:9 Which of all these22 does not know
that the hand of the Lord23 has done24 this,25
12:10 in whose hand26 is the life27 of every creature
and the breath of all the human race.28
12:11 Does not the ear test words,
as29 the tongue30 tastes food?31
12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?32
Does not long life bring understanding?
12:13 “With God33 are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.34
12:14 If35 he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
if he shuts a person in, it cannot be opened.36
12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;37
if he releases them,38 they destroy39 the land.
12:16 With him are strength and prudence;40
both the one who goes astray41
and the one who misleads are his.
12:17 He42 leads43 counselors away stripped44
and makes fools45 of judges.46
12:18 He loosens47 the bonds48 of kings
and binds a loincloth49 around their waist.
12:19 He leads priests away stripped50
and overthrows51 the potentates.52
12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers53 of speech54
and takes away the discernment55 of elders.
12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen
12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,
and brings deep shadows58 into the light.59
12:23 He makes nations great,60 and destroys them;
he extends the boundaries of nations
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth63
of their understanding;64
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste.65
12:25 They grope about in darkness66 without light;
he makes them stagger67 like drunkards.
Job Pleads His Cause to God68