Job Replies: The Lord Has Done This

12 Then Job answered and said:

2  “No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

3  But I have bunderstanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know csuch things as these?

4  I am da laughingstock to my friends;

I, who ecalled to God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

5  In the thought of one who is fat ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

6  gThe tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hand.1

7  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

8  or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;2

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

9  Who among all these does not know

that hthe hand of the Lord has done this?

10  In ihis hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

11  Does not jthe ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

12  Wisdom is with kthe aged,

and understanding in length of days.

13  l“With God3 are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14  If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he mshuts a man in, none can open.

15  If he nwithholds the waters, they dry up;

if he osends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16  With him are strength and psound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17  He leads qcounselors away stripped,

and rjudges he makes fools.

18  He slooses the bonds of kings

and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

19  He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the mighty.

20  He deprives of speech those who are trusted

tand takes away the discernment of the elders.

21  He upours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22  He vuncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings wdeep darkness to light.

23  He xmakes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and yleads them away.

24  He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

and zmakes them wander in a trackless waste.

25  They agrope in the dark without light,

and he makes them bstagger like a drunken man.

Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God

13 “Behold, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

2  cWhat you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3  dBut I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to eargue my case with God.

4  As for you, fyou whitewash with lies;

gworthless physicians are you all.

5  Oh that you would hkeep silent,

and it would be your wisdom!

6  Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

7  Will you ispeak falsely for God

and speak ideceitfully for him?

8  Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you jplead the case for God?

9  Will it be well with you when he ksearches you out?

Or lcan you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

10  He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

11  Will not his mmajesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

12  Your maxims are proverbs of nashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13  “Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

14  Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

and oput my life in my hand?

15  pThough he slay me, I will qhope in him;1

yet I will rargue my ways to his face.

16  This will be my salvation,

that the godless shall not come before him.

17  sKeep listening to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

18  Behold, I have tprepared my case;

I know that I shall be in the right.

19  uWho is there who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20  Only grant me two things,

then I will not vhide myself from your face:

21  wwithdraw your hand far from me,

and let not xdread of you terrify me.

22  yThen call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

23  How many are my iniquities and my sins?

zMake me know my transgression and my sin.

24  Why ado you hide your face

and bcount me as your enemy?

25  Will you frighten ca driven leaf

and pursue dry dchaff?

26  For you ewrite bitter things against me

and make me inherit fthe iniquities of my youth.

27  You put my feet in gthe stocks

and hwatch all my paths;

you set a limit for2 the soles of my feet.

28  Man3 wastes away like ia rotten thing,

like a garment that is jmoth-eaten.