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
1599 Geneva Bible
12 2 Job accuseth his friends of ignorance. 7 He declareth the might, and power of God. 17 And how he changeth the course of things.
1 Then Job answered, and said,
2 Indeed because that ye are the people only, [a]wisdom must die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you, and am not inferior unto you: yea, who knoweth not such things?
4 (A)I am [b]as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God, and he [c]heareth him: the just and the upright is laughed to scorn.
5 [d]He that is ready to fall, is as a lamp despised in the opinion of the rich.
6 The tabernacles of robbers do prosper, and they are in safety, that provoke God, [e]whom God hath enriched with his hand.
7 Ask now the beasts, [f]and they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the heaven, and they shall tell thee:
8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall show thee: or the fishes of the sea, and they shall declare unto thee.
9 Who is ignorant of all these, but that the hand of the Lord hath made these?
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all [g]mankind.
11 Doth not the ears [h]discern the words, and the mouth taste meat for itself?
12 Among the [i]ancient is wisdom, and in the length of days is understanding.
13 With him is wisdom and strength: he hath counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he will break down, and it cannot be built: he shutteth a man up, and he cannot be loosed.
15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: but when he sendeth them out, they destroy the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom: he that is deceived, and that [j]deceiveth, are his.
17 He causeth the counselors to go as spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
18 [k]He looseth [l]the collar of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
19 He leadeth away the princes as a prey, and overthroweth the mighty.
20 He taketh away the speech from the [m]faithful counselors, and taketh away the judgment of the ancient.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and maketh the strength of the mighty weak.
22 He discovereth the deep places from their darkness, and bringeth forth the shadow of death to light.
23 He [n]increaseth the people, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and bringeth them in again.
24 He taketh away the hearts of them that are the chief over the people of the earth, and maketh them to wander in the wilderness out of the way.
25 They grope in the dark without light: and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
Footnotes
- Job 12:2 Because you feel not that which you speak, you think the whole standeth in words, and so flatter yourselves as though none knew anything, or could know but you.
- Job 12:4 He reproveth these his friends of two faults: the one that they thought they had better knowledge than indeed they had: and the other, that instead of true consolation, they did deride and despise their friend in his adversity.
- Job 12:4 The which neighbor being a mocker and a wicked man, thinketh that no man is in God’s favor but he, because he hath all things that he desireth.
- Job 12:5 As the rich esteem not a light, or torch that goeth out, so is he despised that falleth from prosperity to adversity.
- Job 12:6 Hebrew, to whom God hath brought in with his hand.
- Job 12:7 He declareth to them that did dispute against him, that their wisdom is common to all, and such as the very brute beasts do daily teach.
- Job 12:10 Or, flesh.
- Job 12:11 He exhorteth them to be wise in judging, and as well to know the right use why God hath given them ears, as he hath done a mouth.
- Job 12:12 Though men by age, and continuance of time attain to wisdom, yet it is not comparable to God’s wisdom, nor able to comprehend his judgments, wherein he answereth to that which was alleged, Job 8:8.
- Job 12:16 He showeth that there is nothing done in this world without God’s will and ordinance, for else he should not be Almighty.
- Job 12:18 He taketh wisdom from them.
- Job 12:18 He abateth the honor of princes, and bringeth them into the subjection of others.
- Job 12:20 He causeth that their words have no credit, which is when he will punish sin.
- Job 12:23 In this discourse of God’s wonderful works, Job showeth that whatsoever is done in this world both in the order and change of things, is by God’s will and appointment: wherein he declareth that he thinketh well of God, and is as able to set forth his power in words as they that reasoned against, were.
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