Job 12
Legacy Standard Bible
Job Answers
12 Then Job answered and said,
2 “Truly then (A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
3 But (B)I have a heart of wisdom as well as you;
I do not fall short of you.
And [a]who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a (C)laughingstock to [b]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The righteous and (D)blameless man is a laughingstock.
5 [c]As for upheaval, there is only contempt by the one who acts at ease,
But it is prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 The (E)tents of the destroyers are complacent,
And those who provoke God (F)are secure,
[d]Whom God brings (G)into their power.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them instruct you;
And the birds of the sky, and let them tell you.
8 Or muse to the earth, and let it instruct you;
And let the fish of the sea recount it to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That (H)the hand of Yahweh has done this,
10 (I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And (J)the breath of all the flesh of man?
11 Does not (K)the ear test words,
As the palate [e]tastes its food?
12 Wisdom is with (L)aged men,
With [f]long life is discernment.
Job Speaks of God’s Strength
13 “With Him are (M)wisdom and (N)might;
To Him belong counsel and (O)discernment.
14 Behold, He (P)pulls down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He (Q)closes a man in, and it cannot be opened.
15 Behold, He (R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He (S)sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With Him are strength and sound wisdom;
The (T)misled and the misleader belong to Him.
17 He makes (U)counselors walk [g]barefoot
And makes fools of (V)judges.
18 He (W)opens the [h]bond of kings
And binds their loins with a belt.
19 He makes priests walk [i]barefoot
And subverts (X)the enduring ones.
20 He removes speech from the faithful
And (Y)takes away the discerning taste of the elders.
21 He (Z)pours contempt on nobles
And (AA)loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He (AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings out the shadows of death into light.
23 He (AC)makes the nations great, then makes them perish;
He [j]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 He (AD)removes the heart of wisdom from the heads of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless [k]waste.
25 They (AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them (AF)wander about like a drunken man.
Footnotes
- Job 12:3 Lit with whom is there not like these?
- Job 12:4 Lit his
- Job 12:5 Lit Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease
- Job 12:6 Or He who brings God into his hand
- Job 12:11 Lit tastes food for itself
- Job 12:12 Lit length of days
- Job 12:17 Or stripped
- Job 12:18 Or discipline
- Job 12:19 Or stripped
- Job 12:23 Or spreads out
- Job 12:24 Or formlessness
Job 12
Young's Literal Translation
12 And Job answereth and saith: --
2 Truly -- ye [are] the people, And with you doth wisdom die.
3 I also have a heart like you, I am not fallen more than you, And with whom is there not like these?
4 A laughter to his friend I am: `He calleth to God, and He answereth him,' A laughter [is] the perfect righteous one.
5 A torch -- despised in the thoughts of the secure Is prepared for those sliding with the feet.
6 At peace are the tents of spoilers, And those provoking God have confidence, He into whose hand God hath brought.
7 And yet, ask, I pray thee, [One of] the beasts, and it doth shew thee, And a fowl of the heavens, And it doth declare to thee.
8 Or talk to the earth, and it sheweth thee, And fishes of the sea recount to thee:
9 `Who hath not known in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath done this?
10 In whose hand [is] the breath of every living thing, And the spirit of all flesh of man.'
11 Doth not the ear try words? And the palate taste food for itself?
12 With the very aged [is] wisdom, And [with] length of days understanding.
13 With Him [are] wisdom and might, To him [are] counsel and understanding.
14 Lo, He breaketh down, and it is not built up, He shutteth against a man, And it is not opened.
15 Lo, He keepeth in the waters, and they are dried up, And he sendeth them forth, And they overturn the land.
16 With Him [are] strength and wisdom, His the deceived and deceiver.
17 Causing counsellors to go away a spoil, And judges He maketh foolish.
18 The bands of kings He hath opened, And He bindeth a girdle on their loins.
19 Causing ministers to go away a spoil And strong ones He overthroweth.
20 Turning aside the lip of the stedfast, And the reason of the aged He taketh away.
21 Pouring contempt upon princes, And the girdle of the mighty He made feeble.
22 Removing deep things out of darkness, And He bringeth out to light death-shade.
23 Magnifying the nations, and He destroyeth them, Spreading out the nations, and He quieteth them.
24 Turning aside the heart Of the heads of the people of the land, And he causeth them to wander In vacancy -- no way!
25 They feel darkness, and not light, He causeth them to wander as a drunkard.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.