Job 12-13

New American Standard Bible

Job Chides His Accusers

12 Then Job responded,

²“Truly then ^(A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
³But ^(B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And ^[a]who does not know such things as these?
⁴I am a ^(C)joke to ^[b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and ^(D)blameless man is a joke.
⁵^[c]He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
⁶The ^(E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God ^(F)are secure,
^[d]Whom God brings ^(G)into their power.

⁷“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
⁸Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
⁹Who among all these does not know
That ^(H)the hand of the Lord has done this,
¹⁰^(I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And ^(J)the breath of all mankind?
¹¹Does ^(K)the ear not put words to the test,
As the palate ^[e]tastes its food?
¹²Wisdom is with the ^(L)aged,
And with ^[f]long life comes understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

¹³“^(M)Wisdom and ^(N)might are with Him;
Advice and ^(O)understanding belong to Him.
¹⁴Behold, He ^(P)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He ^[g]^(Q)imprisons a person, and ^[h]there is no release.
¹⁵Behold, He ^(R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He ^(S)sends them out, and they ^[i]inundate the earth.
¹⁶Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who ^(T)goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
¹⁷He makes ^(U)advisers walk ^[j]barefoot
And makes fools of ^(V)judges.
¹⁸He ^(W)undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
¹⁹He makes priests walk ^[k]barefoot,
And overthrows ^(X)the secure ones.
²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And ^(Y)takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹He ^(Z)pours contempt on nobles,
And ^(AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
²²He ^(AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
²³He ^(AC)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He ^[l]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
²⁴He ^(AD)deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of ^[m]intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
²⁵They ^(AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them ^(AF)stagger like a drunken person.

Job Says His Friends’ Proverbs Are Ashes

13 “^(AG)Behold, my eye has seen all this,
My ear has heard and understood it.
²^(AH)What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

³“But ^(AI)I would speak to ^[n]the Almighty,
And I desire to ^(AJ)argue with God.
⁴But you ^(AK)smear me with lies;
You are all ^(AL)worthless physicians.
⁵Oh that you would ^(AM)be completely silent,
And that it would become your wisdom!
⁶Please hear my argument,
And give your attention to the contentions of my lips.
⁷Will you ^(AN)speak what is unjust for God,
And speak what is deceitful for Him?
⁸Will you ^(AO)show partiality for Him?
Will you contend for God?
⁹Will it go well when He examines you?
Or ^(AP)will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?
¹⁰He will certainly punish you
If you secretly ^(AQ)show partiality.
¹¹Will ^(AR)His ^[o]majesty not terrify you,
And the dread of Him fall upon you?
¹²Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,
Your defenses are defenses of clay.

Job Is Sure He Will Be Vindicated

¹³“^(AS)Be silent before me so that I may speak;
Then let come upon me what may.
¹⁴Why should I take my flesh in my teeth,
And ^(AT)put my life in my ^[p]hands?
¹⁵^(AU)Though He slay me,
I will ^[q]hope in Him.
Nevertheless I ^(AV)will argue my ways ^[r]before Him.
¹⁶This also will be my ^(AW)salvation,
For ^(AX)a godless person cannot come before His presence.
¹⁷Listen carefully to my speech,
And let my declaration fill your ears.
¹⁸Behold now, I have ^(AY)prepared my case;
I know that ^(AZ)I will be vindicated.
¹⁹^(BA)Who could contend with me?
For then I would be silent and ^(BB)die.

²⁰“Only two things I ask that You do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:
²¹^(BC)Remove Your ^[s]hand from me,
And may the dread of You not terrify me.
²²Then call and ^(BD)I will answer;
Or let me speak, then reply to me.
²³^(BE)How many are my guilty deeds and sins?
Make known to me my wrongdoing and my sin.
²⁴Why do You ^(BF)hide Your face
And consider me ^(BG)Your enemy?
²⁵Will You scare away a ^(BH)scattered leaf?
Or will You pursue the dry ^(BI)chaff?
²⁶For You write ^(BJ)bitter things against me
And ^(BK)make me inherit the guilty deeds of my youth.
²⁷You ^(BL)put my feet in the stocks
And watch all my paths;
You ^[t]set a limit for the soles of my feet,
²⁸While ^[u]I am decaying like a ^(BM)rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.