Job 12

JOB’S REPLY TO ZOPHAR

12Then Job answered:

²No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you!

³But I also have a mind like you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?^Bj

⁴I am a laughingstock to my^C friends,

by calling on God, who answers me.^D

The righteous and blameless man is a laughingstock.^k

⁵The one who is at ease^l holds calamity in contempt

and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of robbers are safe,^m

and those who trouble God are secure;

God holds them in his hands.^En

⁷But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;

ask the birds of the sky,

and they will tell you.^o

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;

let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?^p

¹⁰The life of every living thing is in his hand,

as well as the breath of all humanity.^q

¹¹Doesn’t the ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly,

and understanding comes with long life.^r

¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God;

counsel and understanding are his.^s

¹⁴Whatever he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

whoever he imprisons cannot be released.^t

¹⁵When he withholds water, everything dries up,

and when he releases it, it destroys the land.^u

¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to him.

The deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot

and makes judges go mad.^v

¹⁸He releases the bonds^A put on by kings^w

and fastens a belt around their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot

and overthrows established leaders.^x

²⁰He deprives trusted advisers of speech

and takes away the elders’ good judgment.

²¹He pours out contempt on nobles

and disarms^B the strong.

²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness

and brings the deepest darkness into the light.^a

²³He makes nations great, then destroys them;

he enlarges nations,^b then leads them away.

²⁴He deprives the world’s leaders of reason,

and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.^c

²⁵They grope around in darkness without light;

he makes them stagger like a drunkard.^d