| 12:1 | Job Answers His CriticsJob Answers His Critics Then Job answered and said: |
| 12:2 | No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you! |
| 12:3 | But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these? |
| 12:4 | I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed. |
| 12:5 | A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; It is made ready for those whose feet slip. |
| 12:6 | The tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure-- In what God provides by His hand. |
| 12:7 | But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; |
| 12:8 | Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to 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 not the ear test words And the mouth taste its food? |
| 12:12 | Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding. |
| 12:13 | With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding. |
| 12:14 | If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release. |
| 12:15 | If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth. |
| 12:16 | With Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His. |
| 12:17 | He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges. |
| 12:18 | He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt. |
| 12:19 | He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty. |
| 12:20 | He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders. |
| 12:21 | He pours contempt on princes, And disarms the mighty. |
| 12:22 | He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light. |
| 12:23 | He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. |
| 12:24 | He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. |
| 12:25 | They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. |