Job Chapter 12
1 Job answered:
2 “No doubt, you’re the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I’m as smart as you are;
I’m not your inferior.
Who doesn’t know things like that?
4 I’m a laughingstock to my friends,
one who called on God and he answered,
a just and blameless man;
yet I’m a laughingstock.
5 In the thoughts of people at ease,
there’s contempt for disaster;
they’re ready to give a shove to those whose feet are slipping.
6 Destroyers prosper;
those who provoke God may feel secure,
but he’ll bring them under his control.
Job 12:1-6
7 “Ask the animals, they’ll teach you;
the birds will explain.
8 Speak to the earth; it will inform you;
have the fish in the sea tell you.
9 Who among them doesn’t know
that Yahveh has brought this disaster on me?
10 The life of every living thing lies in his hand,
including the breath of each person.
11 Doesn’t the ear test words
like the palate tastes food?
12 Old people have wisdom;
long life brings insight.
Job 12:7-12
13 “He has wisdom and power;
counsel and insight lie in him.
14 He tears down, and no one can rebuild;
he shuts people in, and nobody can release them.
15 If he withholds water, things dry up;
if he sends it, the land floods.
16 Strength and sound wisdom lie in him;
deceived and deceiver are under his control.
17 He makes advisors walk barefoot
and makes fools out of judges.
18 He takes off kings’ belts
and binds their waists with a rope.
Job 12:13-18
19 He makes priests walk barefoot
and overthrows those who feel secure.
20 He silences the ones that people trust
and takes away the discernment of elders.
21 He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the strong.
22 He reveals what’s deep in the dark
and brings darkness into light.
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then lets them go into exile.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people
and makes them wander in pathless desolation.
25 They grope in the dark with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunks.
Job 12:19-25