Job 12
Job’s Reply to Zophar1
12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people,2
and wisdom will die with you.3
12:3 I also have understanding4 as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.5
Who does not know such things as these?6
12:4 I am7 a laughingstock8 to my friends,9
I, who called on God and whom he answered10 –
a righteous and blameless11 man
is a laughingstock!
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 sky 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
12:10 in whose hand25 is the life26 of every creature
and the breath of all the human race.27
12:11 Does not the ear test words,
as28 the tongue29 tastes food?30
12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?31
Does not long life bring understanding?
12:13 “With God32 are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.33
12:14 If34 he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.35
12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;36
if he releases them,37 they destroy38 the land.
12:16 With him are strength and prudence;39
both the one who goes astray40
and the one who misleads are his.
12:17 He41 leads42 counselors away stripped43
and makes judges44 into fools.45
12:18 He loosens46 the bonds47 of kings
and binds a loincloth48 around their waist.
12:19 He leads priests away stripped49
and overthrows50 the potentates.51
12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers52 of speech53
and takes away the discernment54 of elders.
12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen
12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,
and brings deep shadows57 into the light.
12:23 He makes nations great,58 and destroys them;
he extends the boundaries of nations
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth61
of their understanding;62
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste.63
12:25 They grope about in darkness64 without light;
he makes them stagger65 like drunkards.