Job 12
Legacy Standard Bible
Job Answers
12 Then Job answered and said,
2 “Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 But (B)I have a heart of wisdom as well as you;
I do not fall short of you.
And [a]who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a (C)laughingstock to [b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The righteous and (D)blameless man is a laughingstock.
5 [c]As for upheaval, there is only contempt by the one who acts at ease,
But it is prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 The (E)tents of the destroyers are complacent,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[d]Whom God brings (G)into their power.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them instruct you;
And the birds of the sky, and let them tell you.
8 Or muse to the earth, and let it instruct you;
And let the fish of the sea recount it to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That (H)the hand of Yahweh has done this,
10 (I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And (J)the breath of all the flesh of man?
11 Does not (K)the ear test words,
As the palate [e]tastes its food?
12 Wisdom is with (L)aged men,
With [f]long life is discernment.
Job Speaks of God’s Strength
13 “With Him are (M)wisdom and (N)might;
To Him belong counsel and (O)discernment.
14 Behold, He (P)pulls down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He (Q)closes a man in, and it cannot be opened.
15 Behold, He (R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (S)sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With Him are strength and sound wisdom;
The (T)misled and the misleader belong to Him.
17 He makes (U)counselors walk [g]barefoot
And makes fools of (V)judges.
18 He (W)opens the [h]bond of kings
And binds their loins with a belt.
19 He makes priests walk [i]barefoot
And subverts (X)the enduring ones.
20 He removes speech from the faithful
And (Y)takes away the discerning taste of the elders.
21 He (Z)pours contempt on nobles
And (AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings out the shadows of death into light.
23 He (AC)makes the nations great, then makes them perish;
He [j]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 He (AD)removes the heart of wisdom from the heads of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless [k]waste.
25 They (AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (AF)wander about like a drunken man.
Footnotes
- Job 12:3 Lit with whom is there not like these?
- Job 12:4 Lit his
- Job 12:5 Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease
- Job 12:6 Or He who brings God into his hand
- Job 12:11 Lit tastes food for itself
- Job 12:12 Lit length of days
- Job 12:17 Or stripped
- Job 12:18 Or discipline
- Job 12:19 Or stripped
- Job 12:23 Or spreads out
- Job 12:24 Or formlessness
Job 12
New King James Version
Job Answers His Critics
12 Then Job answered and said:
2 “No doubt you are the people,
And wisdom will die with you!
3 But I have [a]understanding as well as you;
I am not (A)inferior to you.
Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
4 “I(B) am one mocked by his friends,
Who (C)called on God, and He answered him,
The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
5 A [b]lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;
It is made ready for (D)those whose feet slip.
6 (E)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;
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 (F)In whose hand is the [c]life of every living thing,
And the (G)breath of [d]all mankind?
11 Does not the ear test words
And the [e]mouth taste its food?
12 Wisdom is with aged men,
And with [f]length of days, understanding.
13 “With Him are (H)wisdom and strength,
He has counsel and understanding.
14 If (I)He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;
If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
15 If He (J)withholds the waters, they dry up;
If He (K)sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
16 With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away plundered,
And makes fools of the judges.
18 He loosens the bonds of kings,
And binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads [g]princes away plundered,
And overthrows the mighty.
20 (L)He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 (M)He pours contempt on princes,
And [h]disarms the mighty.
22 He (N)uncovers deep things out of darkness,
And brings the shadow of death to light.
23 (O)He makes nations great, and destroys them;
He [i]enlarges nations, and guides them.
24 He takes away the [j]understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And (P)makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
25 (Q)They grope in the dark without light,
And He makes them (R)stagger like a drunken man.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
