JobChapter 12
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1Then Job answered: 2"No doubt you are the only wise people!
When you die, wisdom will die with you! 3But I have a mind too.
I am not below you.
Who doesn't know things like these? 4My friends laugh at me.
Yet I called on God, and he answered me.
A man who is right and honest is laughed at. 5A person who is at ease looks down on trouble.
He thinks it is for those whose feet are slipping. 6The tents of robbers are safe.
Those who make God angry are secure.
They carry their god in their hands. 7But ask the animals, and they will teach you.
Ask the birds in the sky, and they will tell you. 8Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
Let the fish of the sea tell you. 9Which one of these doesn't know
that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10The life of every living thing is in his hand.
The breath of all people is in his hand too. 11The tongue tastes its food.
Doesn't the ear test words in the same way? 12Wisdom is found with older people.
Understanding comes with a long life. 13Wisdom and strength belong to God.
Good advice and understanding are his. 14What he tears down can't be built again.
The man he locks up can't be set free. 15If he holds back the waters, they dry up.
If he lets them go, they flood the land. 16True wisdom and power belong to him.
The one who is fooled and the one who fools others are both his. 17He leads advisers away barefoot.
He makes fools of judges. 18He loosens the chains that kings put on others.
Then he ties a belt around their waists. 19He leads priests away barefoot.
He brings down those who are firmly in power. 20He takes away the speech of trusted men.
He takes away the good sense of the elders. 21He pours shame on nobles.
He takes the weapons away from the mighty. 22He shows the deep things hidden in darkness.
He brings the deepest shadows into the light. 23He makes nations great, and he destroys them.
He makes nations grow, then scatters them. 24He takes away the good sense of the earth's leaders.
He makes them wander in a wasteland with no path. 25They feel their way in the dark with no light.
He makes them stagger like drunk men.