Job 11:12-12:24

English Standard Version

¹³ “If you ^(C)prepare your heart,
    you will ^(D)stretch out your hands toward him.
¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
¹⁵ Surely then you will ^(E)lift up your face without ^(F)blemish;
    you will be secure and will not fear.
¹⁶ You will ^(G)forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
¹⁷ And your life will be ^(H)brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.
¹⁸ And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
    you will look around and ^(I)take your rest in security.
¹⁹ You will ^(J)lie down, and none will make you afraid;
    many will ^(K)court your favor.
²⁰ But ^(L)the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is ^(M)to breathe their last.”

² “No doubt you are the people,
    and wisdom will die with you.
³ But I have ^(N)understanding as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know ^(O)such things as these?
⁴ I am ^(P)a laughingstock to my friends;
    I, who ^(Q)called to God and he answered me,
    a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
⁵ In the thought of one who is ^(R)at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
    it is ready for those whose feet slip.
^6 (S)The tents of robbers are at peace,
    and those who provoke God are secure,
    who bring their god in their hand.^[a]

⁷ “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;^[b]
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
⁹ Who among all these does not know
    that ^(T)the hand of the Lord has done this?
¹⁰ In ^(U)his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of all mankind.
¹¹ Does not ^(V)the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?
¹² Wisdom is with ^(W)the aged,
    and understanding in length of days.

^13 (X)“With God^[c] are wisdom and might;
    he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ If he tears down, none can rebuild;
    if he ^(Y)shuts a man in, none can open.
¹⁵ If he ^(Z)withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he ^(AA)sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and ^(AB)sound wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leads ^(AC)counselors away stripped,
    and ^(AD)judges he makes fools.
¹⁸ He ^(AE)looses the bonds of kings
    and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
    and overthrows the mighty.
²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted
    ^(AF)and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹ He ^(AG)pours contempt on princes
    and loosens the belt of the strong.
²² He ^(AH)uncovers the deeps out of darkness
    and brings ^(AI)deep darkness to light.
²³ He ^(AJ)makes nations great, and he destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and ^(AK)leads them away.
²⁴ He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
    and ^(AL)makes them wander in a trackless waste.