Job 12

12:1

Then Job answered:

12:2

“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

12:3

But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

12:4

I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

12:5

The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

12:6

The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

12:7

But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

12:8

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

12:9

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

12:10

The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

12:11

Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?

12:12

Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

12:13

Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

12:14

What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.

12:15

If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

12:16

True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

12:17

He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.

12:18

He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

12:19

He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.

12:20

He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

12:21

He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

12:22

He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.

12:23

He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

12:24

He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

12:25

They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.