Job 12
Lexham English Bible
Job’s Fourth Speech
12 Then[a] Job answered and said,
2 “Truly indeed you[b] are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.[c]
3 I also have insight[d] like you;[e]
I am not more inferior than you.[f]
And who does not know things like these?[g]
4 I am a laughingstock to my friends:[h]
‘He calls on God, and he answers him.’
A righteous, blameless man is a laughingstock.
5 Those at ease have contempt[i] for the thought of disaster,[j]
but it is ready for those unstable of foot.
6 The tents of the destroyers are at peace,
and there is security for those who provoke God,
for those whom God brings into his hand.[k]
7 “But[l] ask[m] the animals, and they will teach you,
and the birds of the heaven, and they will tell you;
8 or ask the earth, and it will teach you,
and the fishes of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all of these does not know
that Yahweh’s hand has done this?
10 In whose hand is the life of all living things
and the breath of every human being?[n]
11 Does not the ear test words
and the palate taste food for itself?
12 Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding is in length of days.
13 “With him are wisdom and powerful deeds,
and to him belong counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down, then[o] it will not be rebuilt;
if he shuts a man in, then[p] he cannot be freed.
15 Look, if he withholds the water,[q] then[r] they dry up;
and if he sends them out, then[s] they overwhelm the land.
16 “Strength and sound wisdom are with him;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.[t]
17 He leads counselors away stripped,
and he makes fools of judges.
18 He loosens the fetters of kings,
and he binds a loincloth on their loins.
19 He leads priests away stripped,
and he overthrows the members of ancient families.[u]
20 He deprives the trustworthy of speech,
and he takes away the discretion of elders.
21 He pours contempt on noblemen,
and he loosens the girdle of the mighty.
22 “He uncovers mysteries out of darkness,
and he brings deep shadow to the light.
23 He makes the nations great, then[v] he destroys them;
he expands the nations, then[w] he guides them.
24 He strips away the insight of the heads of the earth’s people,
and he makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.[x]
25 They grope in the dark without[y] light,
and he makes them stagger like a[z] drunkard.
Footnotes
- Job 12:1 Hebrew “And”
- Job 12:2 Plural
- Job 12:2 Plural
- Job 12:3 Literally “Also for me heart”
- Job 12:3 Plural
- Job 12:3 Plural
- Job 12:3 Literally “and who there is not like these”
- Job 12:4 Hebrew “to his friends”
- Job 12:5 Literally “Contempt is according to the thought of the complacent”
- Job 12:5 Literally “a torch”
- Job 12:6 Or “power”
- Job 12:7 Hebrew “And”
- Job 12:7 Or “ask now,” or “please ask”
- Job 12:10 Literally “the breath of all the flesh of man”
- Job 12:14 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:14 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:15 Or “waters”
- Job 12:15 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:15 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:16 Or “for him”
- Job 12:19 Literally “the constant”
- Job 12:23 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:23 Hebrew “and”
- Job 12:24 Literally “in a wasteland not a way”
- Job 12:25 Literally “and not”
- Job 12:25 Hebrew “the”
Job 12
American Standard Version
12 Then Job answered and said,
2 No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor,
I who called upon God, and he answered:
The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
5 In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke God are secure;
[a]Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee;
And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9 Who knoweth not [b]in all these,
That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the [c]breath of all mankind?
11 Doth not the ear try words,
Even as the palate tasteth its food?
12 [d]With aged men is wisdom,
And in length of days understanding.
13 With [e]God is wisdom and might;
He hath counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again;
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up;
Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped,
And judges maketh he fools.
18 He looseth the bond of kings,
And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
19 He leadeth priests away stripped,
And overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth the speech of the trusty,
And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes,
And looseth the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
23 He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them:
He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
24 He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the [f]earth,
And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light;
And he maketh them to [g]stagger like a drunken man.
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