Job 12:13–25

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