Job 12
12
Job’s Fourth Speech: A Response to Zophar
1Then Job spoke again:
2“You people really know everything, don’t you?
And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
3Well, I know a few things myself—
and you’re no better than I am.
Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?
4Yet my friends laugh at me,
for I call on God and expect an answer.
I am a just and blameless man,
yet they laugh at me.
5People who are at ease mock those in trouble.
They give a push to people who are stumbling.
6But robbers are left in peace,
and those who provoke God live in safety—
though God keeps them in his power.#12:6 Or safety—those who try to manipulate God. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
7“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.
Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you.
Let the fish in the sea speak to you.
9For they all know
that my disaster#12:9 Hebrew that this. has come from the hand of the Lord.
10For the life of every living thing is in his hand,
and the breath of every human being.
11The ear tests the words it hears
just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
12Wisdom belongs to the aged,
and understanding to the old.
13“But true wisdom and power are found in God;
counsel and understanding are his.
14What he destroys cannot be rebuilt.
When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.
15If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert.
If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
16Yes, strength and wisdom are his;
deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
17He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment;
wise judges become fools.
18He removes the royal robe of kings.
They are led away with ropes around their waist.
19He leads priests away, stripped of status;
he overthrows those with long years in power.
20He silences the trusted adviser
and removes the insight of the elders.
21He pours disgrace upon princes
and disarms the strong.
22“He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness;
he brings light to the deepest gloom.
23He builds up nations, and he destroys them.
He expands nations, and he abandons them.
24He strips kings of understanding
and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
25They grope in the darkness without a light.
He makes them stagger like drunkards.
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Job 12: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Job 12
12
Job Answers His Critics
1Then Job answered and said:
2“No doubt you are the people,
And wisdom will die with you!
3But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not #Job 13:2inferior to you.
Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
4“I#Job 21:3 am one mocked by his friends,
Who #Ps. 91:15called on God, and He answered him,
The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
5A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;
It is made ready for #Prov. 14:2those whose feet slip.
6#(Job 9:24; 21:6–16; Ps. 73:12; Jer. 12:1; Mal. 3:15)The tents of robbers prosper,
And those who provoke God are secure—
In what God provides by His hand.
7“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
9Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10#(Acts 17:28)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the #Job 27:3; 33:4breath of all mankind?
11Does not the ear test words
And the mouth taste its food?
12Wisdom is with aged men,
And with length of days, understanding.
13“With Him are #Job 9:4; 36:5wisdom and strength,
He has counsel and understanding.
14If #Job 11:10; Is. 25:2He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;
If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
15If He #Deut. 11:17; (1 Kin. 8:35, 36)withholds the waters, they dry up;
If He #Gen. 7:11–24sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
16With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17He leads counselors away plundered,
And makes fools of the judges.
18He loosens the bonds of kings,
And binds their waist with a belt.
19He leads princes away plundered,
And overthrows the mighty.
20#Job 32:9He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And takes away the discernment of the elders.
21#(Job 34:19); Ps. 107:40; (Dan. 2:21)He pours contempt on princes,
And disarms the mighty.
22He #Dan. 2:22; (1 Cor. 4:5)uncovers deep things out of darkness,
And brings the shadow of death to light.
23#Is. 9:3; 26:15He makes nations great, and destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and guides them.
24He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And #Ps. 107:4makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
25#Job 5:14; 15:30; 18:18They grope in the dark without light,
And He makes them #Ps. 107:27stagger like a drunken man.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.