Job - Chapter 12 - A Conservative Version
- Then Job answered and said,
- No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
- But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who does not know such things as these?
- I am as a man who is a laughing-stock to his neighbor. I who called upon God, and he answered. The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
- In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for those whose foot slips.
- The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure. Into whose hand God brings [abundantly].
- But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee.
- Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare to thee.
- Who does not know in all these, that the hand of LORD has wrought this,
- in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
- Does not the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
- With aged men is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.
- With [God] is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
- Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again. He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.
- Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
- With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
- He leads counselors away stripped, and he makes judges fools.
- He loosens the bond of kings, and he binds their loins with a belt.
- He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
- He removes the speech of the trustworthy, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
- He pours contempt upon rulers, and weakens the strength of the strong.
- He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.
- He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
- 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.
- They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them to stagger like a drunken man.