Jó 12

¹ Then Job answered and said,

² No doubt but you{+} are the people, And wisdom will die with you{+}.

³ But I have understanding as well as you{+}; I am not inferior to you{+}: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?

⁴ I am as one who is a laughingstock to his fellow man, I who called on God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughingstock.

⁵ In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slips.

⁶ The tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God brings [abundantly].

⁷ But ask now the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you:

⁸ Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will declare to you.

⁹ Who doesn't know in all these, That the hand of Yahweh has wrought this,

¹⁰ In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹ Does not the ear try words, Even as the palate tastes its food?

¹² With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.

¹³ With [God] is wisdom and might; He has counsel and understanding.

¹⁴ Look, he breaks down, and it can't be built again; He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.

¹⁵ Look, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped, And judges he makes fools.

¹⁸ He looses the authority of kings, And he binds their loins with a belt.

¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped, And overthrows the mighty.

²⁰ He removes the speech of the trusty, And takes away the understanding of the elders.

²¹ He pours contempt on princes, And looses the belt of the strong.

²² He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings out to light the shadow of death.

²³ He increases the nations, and he destroys them: He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.

²⁴ 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.

²⁵ They grope in the dark without light; And he makes them to stagger like a drunk man.