Job 12:1-6
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)
Job 12:13-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 “With God[a] are wisdom and strength;
he has counsel and understanding.(A)
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.(B)
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.(C)
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.(D)
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.(E)
18 He looses the sash of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their loins.(F)
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.(G)
21 He pours contempt on princes
and looses the belt of the strong.(H)
22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness
and brings deep darkness to light.(I)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.(J)
24 He strips understanding from the leaders[b] of the earth
and makes them wander in a pathless waste.(K)
25 They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunkard.(L)
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.