Job 12
World English Bible
12 Then Job answered,
2 “No doubt, but 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.
Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor,
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6 The tents of robbers prosper.
Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their god in their hands.
7 “But ask the animals, now, and they will teach you;
the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
The fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who doesn’t know that in all these,
Yahweh’s hand has done this,
10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind?
11 Doesn’t the ear try words,
even as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom,
in length of days understanding.
13 “With God is wisdom and might.
He has counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again.
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up.
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away stripped.
He makes judges fools.
18 He loosens the bond of kings.
He binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours contempt on princes,
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
and brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light.
He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
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”
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