Job 12

Chapter 12

Job’s Fourth Speech: A Response to Zophar

Then Job spoke again:

²“You people really know everything, don’t you?

And when you die, wisdom will die with you!

³Well, I know a few things myself—

and you’re no better than I am.

Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?

⁴Yet my friends laugh at me,

for I call on God and expect an answer.

I am a just and blameless man,

yet they laugh at me.

⁵People who are at ease mock those in trouble.

They give a push to people who are stumbling.

⁶But robbers are left in peace,

and those who provoke God live in safety—

though God keeps them in his power.

⁷“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.

Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

⁸Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you.

Let the fish in the sea speak to you.

⁹For they all know

that my disaster has come from the hand of the Lord.

¹⁰For the life of every living thing is in his hand,

and the breath of every human being.

¹¹The ear tests the words it hears

just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.

¹²Wisdom belongs to the aged,

and understanding to the old.

¹³“But true wisdom and power are found in God;

counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴What he destroys cannot be rebuilt.

When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.

¹⁵If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert.

If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.

¹⁶Yes, strength and wisdom are his;

deceivers and deceived are both in his power.

¹⁷He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment;

wise judges become fools.

¹⁸He removes the royal robe of kings.

They are led away with ropes around their waist.

¹⁹He leads priests away, stripped of status;

he overthrows those with long years in power.

²⁰He silences the trusted adviser

and removes the insight of the elders.

²¹He pours disgrace upon princes

and disarms the strong.

²²“He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness;

he brings light to the deepest gloom.

²³He builds up nations, and he destroys them.

He expands nations, and he abandons them.

²⁴He strips kings of understanding

and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in the darkness without a light.

He makes them stagger like drunkards.