Job 12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job Replies: I Am a Laughingstock
12 Then Job answered:
2 “No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who called upon God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock.(A)
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,[a]
but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.(B)
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hands.[b](C)
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the earth,[c] and they will teach you,
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?(D)
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.(E)
11 Does not the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?(F)
12 Is wisdom with the aged
and understanding in length of days?(G)
13 “With God[d] are wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.(H)
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.(I)
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.(J)
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.(K)
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.(L)
18 He looses the sash of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.(M)
19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted
and takes away the discernment of the elders.(N)
21 He pours contempt on princes
and looses the belt of the strong.(O)
22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness
and brings deep darkness to light.(P)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.(Q)
24 He strips understanding from the leaders[e] of the earth
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.(R)
25 They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.(S)
Job 12
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
12 When Job answered, and said:
2 Are you then men alone, and shall wisdom die with you?
3 I also have a heart as well as you: for who is ignorant of these things, which you know?
4 He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God and he will hear him: for the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn.
5 The lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich, is ready for the time appointed.
6 The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God boldly; whereas it is he that hath given all into their hands:
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee.
8 Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell.
9 Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things?
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man.
11 Doth not the ear discern words, and the palate of him that eateth, the taste?
12 In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence.
13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
14 If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he shut up a. man, there is none that can open.
15 If he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up: and if he send them out, they shall overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the deceiver, and him that is deceived.
17 He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to insensibility.
18 He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with a cord.
19 He leadeth away priests without glory, and overthroweth nobles.
20 He changeth the speech of the true speakers, and taketh away the doctrine of the aged.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and relieveth them that were oppressed.
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth up to light the shadow of death.
23 He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth them again after they were overthrown.
24 He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the earth, and deceiveth them that they walk in vain where there is no way.
25 They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and he shall make them stagger like men that are drunk.
Job 12
The Message
Job Answers Zophar
Put Your Ear to the Earth
12 1-3 Job answered:
“I’m sure you speak for all the experts,
and when you die there’ll be no one left to tell us how to live.
But don’t forget that I also have a brain—
I don’t intend to play second fiddle to you.
It doesn’t take an expert to know these things.
4-6 “I’m ridiculed by my friends:
‘So that’s the man who had conversations with God!’
Ridiculed without mercy:
‘Look at the man who never did wrong!’
It’s easy for the well-to-do to point their fingers in blame,
for the well-fixed to pour scorn on the strugglers.
Crooks reside safely in high-security houses,
insolent blasphemers live in luxury;
they’ve bought and paid for a god who’ll protect them.
7-12 “But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;
let the birds tell you what’s going on.
Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.
Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree
that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—
Every living soul, yes,
every breathing creature?
Isn’t this all just common sense,
as common as the sense of taste?
Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom,
that you have to grow old before you understand life?
From God We Learn How to Live
13-25 “True wisdom and real power belong to God;
from him we learn how to live,
and also what to live for.
If he tears something down, it’s down for good;
if he locks people up, they’re locked up for good.
If he holds back the rain, there’s a drought;
if he lets it loose, there’s a flood.
Strength and success belong to God;
both deceived and deceiver must answer to him.
He strips experts of their vaunted credentials,
exposes judges as witless fools.
He divests kings of their royal garments,
then ties a rag around their waists.
He strips priests of their robes,
and fires high officials from their jobs.
He forces trusted sages to keep silence,
deprives elders of their good sense and wisdom.
He dumps contempt on famous people,
disarms the strong and mighty.
He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness,
hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun.
He makes nations rise and then fall,
builds up some and abandons others.
He robs world leaders of their reason,
and sends them off into no-man’s-land.
They grope in the dark without a clue,
lurching and staggering like drunks.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson