12:1 Then Job responded,
12:2 “Truly then you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
12:3 But I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And ①who does not know such things as these?
▷ ①Lit with whom is there not like these?
12:4 I am a joke to ①my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and blameless man is a joke.
▷ ①Lit his
12:5 ①He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
▷ ①Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease
12:6 The tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God are secure,
①Whom God brings into their power.
▷ ①Or He who brings God into his hand.
12:7 “But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
12:8 Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
12:9 Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
12:11 Does the ear not put words to the test,
As the palate ①tastes its food?
▷ ①Lit tastes food for itself
12:12 Wisdom is with the aged,
And with ①long life comes understanding.
▷ ①Lit length of days
12:13 “Wisdom and might are with Him;
Advice and understanding belong to Him.
12:14 Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He ①imprisons a person, and ②there is no release.
▷ ①Lit shuts against ②Lit it is not opened
12:15 Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He sends them out, and they ①inundate the earth.
▷ ①Lit overturn
12:16 Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
12:17 He makes advisers walk ①barefoot
And makes fools of judges.
▷ ①Or stripped
12:18 He undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
12:19 He makes priests walk ①barefoot,
And overthrows the secure ones.
▷ ①Or stripped
12:20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And takes away the discernment of the elders.
12:21 He pours contempt on nobles,
And loosens the belt of the strong.
12:22 He reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
12:23 He makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He ①enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
▷ ①Or spreads out
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of ①intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
▷ ①Lit heart
12:25 They grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken person.