Job 12

Tree of Life Version

² “Without a doubt you are the people
    and wisdom will die with you!
³ But I have a mind as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know these things?

⁴ “I have become a laughingstock to my friend,
    though I called on God and He answered—
    a righteous and blameless man is a laughingstock!
⁵ Contempt for calamity is the thought of one at ease,
    prepared for those whose foot slips.
⁶ The tents of marauders prosper,
    and there is security for those who provoke God—
    for those whom God brings in His hand.
⁷ But now ask the animals and they will teach you,
    or the birds of the sky and they will tell you,
⁸ or speak to the earth and it will teach you,
    or the fish of the sea and they will inform you.
⁹ Which of these does not know
    that the hand of Adonai has done this?
¹⁰ In His hand is the life of every creature,
    and the breath of all the human race.
¹¹ Does not the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?
¹² Is not wisdom with the aged
    and understanding bring long life?
¹³ “With Him are wisdom and power;
    counsel and understanding are His.
¹⁴ If He tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
    one He imprisons cannot be released.
¹⁵ If He holds back the waters, they dry up;
if He releases them, they destroy the earth.
¹⁶ With Him are power and sound wisdom;
    both deceived and deceiver are His.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped
    and makes judges into fools.
¹⁸ He loosens the bonds of the kings,
    and binds a loincloth around their waists.
¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
    and overthrows the rulers.
²⁰ He silences the lips of trusted advisors
    and removes the discernment of elders.
²¹ He pours contempt on nobles
    and loosens the belts of the mighty.
²² He reveals the deep things of darkness^[a]
    and brings utter darkness into light.
²³ He makes nations great
    and destroys them.
He enlarges the nations
    and leads them away.
²⁴ He deprives the heads of the people of earth of understanding,
and causes them to wander in a pathless wasteland.
²⁵ They grope in darkness with no light;
    He makes them stagger like a drunkard.