LEB - Job - 12

12:1   Then Job answered and said,

12:2  “Truly indeed you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

12:3  ⌞I also have insight⌟ like you; I am not more inferior than you. And ⌞who does not know things like these⌟?

12:4  I am a laughingstock to my friends: ‘He calls on God, and he answers him.’ A righteous, blameless man is a laughingstock.

12:5  ⌞Those at ease have contempt⌟ for the thought of ⌞disaster⌟, but it is ready for those unstable of foot.

12:6  The tents of the destroyers are at peace, and there is security for those who provoke God, for those whom God brings into his hand.

12:7  “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, and the birds of the heaven, and they will tell you;

12:8  or ask the earth, and it will teach you, and the fishes of the sea will declare to you.

12:9  Who among all of these does not know that Yahweh’s hand has done this?

12:10  In whose hand is the life of all living things and ⌞the breath of every human being⌟?

12:11  Does not the ear test words and the palate taste food for itself?

12:12  Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding is in length of days.

12:13  “With him are wisdom and powerful deeds, and to him belong counsel and understanding.

12:14  If he tears down, then it will not be rebuilt; if he shuts a man in, then he cannot be freed.

12:15  Look, if he withholds the water, then they dry up; and if he sends them out, then they overwhelm the land.

12:16  “Strength and sound wisdom are with him; the deceived and the deceiver are his.

12:17  He leads counselors away stripped, and he makes fools of judges.

12:18  He loosens the fetters of kings, and he binds a loincloth on their loins.

12:19  He leads priests away stripped, and he overthrows ⌞the members of ancient families⌟.

12:20  He deprives the trustworthy of speech, and he takes away the discretion of elders.

12:21  He pours contempt on noblemen, and he loosens the girdle of the mighty.

12:22  “He uncovers mysteries out of darkness, and he brings deep shadow to the light.

12:23  He makes the nations great, then he destroys them; he expands the nations, then he guides them.

12:24  He strips away the insight of the heads of the earth’s people, and he makes them wander in ⌞a pathless wasteland⌟.

12:25  They grope in the dark ⌞without⌟ light, and he makes them stagger like a drunkard.