^13 (A)“With God^[a] are wisdom and might;
    he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ If he tears down, none can rebuild;
    if he ^(B)shuts a man in, none can open.
¹⁵ If he ^(C)withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he ^(D)sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and ^(E)sound wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leads ^(F)counselors away stripped,
    and ^(G)judges he makes fools.
¹⁸ He ^(H)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
    ^(I)and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹ He ^(J)pours contempt on princes
    and loosens the belt of the strong.
²² He ^(K)uncovers the deeps out of darkness
    and brings ^(L)deep darkness to light.
²³ He ^(M)makes nations great, and he destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and ^(N)leads them away.
²⁴ He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
    and ^(O)makes them wander in a trackless waste.
²⁵ They ^(P)grope in the dark without light,
    and he makes them ^(Q)stagger like a drunken man.

¹³ “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
    and let come on me what may.
¹⁴ Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
    and ^(A)put my life in my hand?
^15 (B)Though he slay me, I will ^(C)hope in him;^[a]
    yet I will ^(D)argue my ways to his face.