ASV - Job - 12

12:1  Then Job answered and said,

12:2  No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.

12:3  But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

12:4  I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

12:5  In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

12:6  The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

12:7  But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:

12:8  Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

12:9  Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

12:10  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

12:11  Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?

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

12:13  WithGodis wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.

12:14  Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

12:15  Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

12:16  With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

12:17  He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.

12:18  He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.

12:19  He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.

12:20  He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.

12:21  He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.

12:22  He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

12:23  He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.

12:24  He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

12:25  They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.