Chapter 12
1 Then Job answered ,
2 "No doubt, but you are the people , and wisdom will die with you .
3 But I have understanding as well as you ; I am not inferior to you . Yes , who doesn’t know such things as these?
4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbour , I , who called on God, and he answered . The just , the blameless man is a joke .
5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6 The tents of robbers prosper . Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands .
7 "But ask the animals now , and they will teach you ; the birds of the sky , and they will tell you .
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you . The fish of the sea will declare to you .
9 Who doesn’t know that in all these , the LORD ’s hand has done this ,
10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing , and the breath of all mankind ?
11 Doesn’t the ear try words , even as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom , in length of days understanding .
13 " With God is wisdom and might . He has counsel and understanding .
14 Behold , he breaks down , and it can ’t be built again . He imprisons a man, and there can be no release .
15 Behold , he withholds the waters , and they dry up . Again , he sends them out , and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom . The deceived and the deceiver are his .
17 He leads counsellors away stripped . He makes judges fools .
18 He loosens the bond of kings . He binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads priests away stripped , and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders .
21 He pours contempt on princes , and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness , and brings out to light the shadow of death .
23 He increases the nations , and he destroys them . He enlarges the nations , and he leads them captive.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way .
25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man .