Job 12
12
Job Chides His Accusers
1Then Job responded,
2“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!
3“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?
4“I am a joke to my friends;
I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—
A just and blameless man is a joke [and laughed to scorn].
5“He who is at ease has contempt for misfortune,
But misfortune is ready [and anxiously waiting] for those whose feet slip.
6“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.
7¶“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
8Or speak to the earth [with its many forms of life], and it will teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare [this truth] to you.
9“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
11“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?
12“With the aged [you say] is wisdom,
And with #12:12 Lit length of days.long life is understanding.
Job Speaks of the Power of God
13¶“But [only] with Him are [perfect] wisdom and might;
He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding.
14“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15“Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;
Again, He sends the waters out, and they overwhelm and devastate the earth.
16“With Him are might and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader are His [and in His power].
17“He makes [great and scheming] counselors walk barefoot
And makes fools of judges.
18“He loosens the bond of kings
And binds their loins with a loincloth.
19“He makes priests walk barefoot,
And He overturns men firmly seated and secure.
20“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.
21“He pours contempt on princes and nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].
22“He uncovers mysteries [that are difficult to grasp and understand] out of the darkness
And brings black gloom and the shadow of death into light.
23“He makes nations great, and He destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and leads them away [captive].
24“He removes intelligence and understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth
And makes them wander and move blindly in a pathless waste.
25“They grope in darkness without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”
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Job 12: AMP
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Job 12
12
Job's Reply
1And Job answered and said,
2No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
3But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4I am as one mocked of his neighbour,
Who calleth upon God, and he answereth him:
The just upright man is laughed to scorn.
5He that is ready to slip with his feet
Is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6The tabernacles of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke God are secure;
Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
7But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
And the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
8Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee:
And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9Who knoweth not in all these
That the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind.
11Doth not the ear try words?
And the mouth taste his meat?
12With the ancient is wisdom;
And in length of days understanding.
13With him is wisdom and strength,
He hath counsel and understanding.
14Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again:
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
15Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up:
Also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
16With him is strength and wisdom:
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17He leadeth counsellors away spoiled,
And maketh the judges fools.
18He looseth the bond of kings,
And girdeth their loins with a girdle.
19He leadeth princes away spoiled,
And overthroweth the mighty.
20He removeth away the speech of the trusty,
And taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21He poureth contempt upon princes,
And weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
22He discovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
23He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them:
He enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
24He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,
And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25They grope in the dark without light,
And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
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