Job 12
Modern English Version
Job Replies
12 And Job answered:
2 “No doubt but 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.
Yes, who does not know such things as these?
4 “I am a laughingstock to my neighbor,
who calls upon God, and He answers him;
the righteous, upright man is a laughingstock.
5 He whose foot is unsteady
is despised in the thoughts of him who is at ease.
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
into whose hand they bring their own god.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
and the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, let it teach you;
and let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 in whose hand is the soul of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear test words
and the mouth taste its food?
12 Wisdom is with the elderly,
and understanding comes with long life.
13 “With Him are wisdom and strength;
He has counsel and understanding.
14 Surely, He tears down, and it cannot be built again;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 Surely, He withholds the waters, and they dry up;
also He sends them out, and they overthrow the earth.
16 With Him are strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.
18 He has loosened the bonds imposed by kings
and bound their waist with a belt.
19 He leads away priests stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes speech from the trusted ones
and takes away the understanding of the aged.
21 He pours contempt upon princes
and loosens the belt of the mighty.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness
and brings the shadow of death to light.
23 He increases the nations and destroys them;
He enlarges the nations and guides them.
24 He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light,
and He makes them to stagger like a drunk man.
Job 12
EasyEnglish Bible
Job replies to Zophar[a]
12 Then Job replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘You people think that you know everything.
You think that there will be no wisdom after you die.
3 But I understand things as well as you.
You are no better than I am.
Everyone knows the things that you have been saying.
4 I am a person who prayed to God and he answered me.
But my friends now laugh at me.
I have always lived completely in the right way.
But still my friends laugh at me.
5 Some people never have any troubles.
They think that people who suffer are fools.
If people are in trouble,
they knock them down!
6 But robbers seem to live in peace.
They cause God to be angry
but they think that they are safe.
They trust their own strength as their god.
7 Ask the animals and they will teach you.
The birds in the sky would tell you the truth.
8 Speak to the earth and it will teach you.
The fish in the sea would tell you what is right.
9 Any of them could tell you that the Lord has done this.
10 He has authority over the life of all the animals.
He gives breath to all people so that they can live.
11 We use our mouths to taste food.
And we use our ears to test what we hear.
12 Old people are often wise.
People who have lived for a long time understand things better.
13 God is wise and he is also powerful.
He understands things and he gives good advice.
14 If God destroys something,
nobody can repair it.
If God puts someone in prison,
that person cannot escape.
15 If God stops the rain, the land becomes dry.
If he sends lots of rain, there are floods.
16 God has strength and wisdom.
He has power over people who tell lies,
and the people that they deceive.
17 He causes clever people to become ashamed.
He causes leaders to do foolish things.
18 He takes authority away from kings.
He dresses them like slaves.
19 He causes priests to become ashamed.
He removes the power of important people.
20 He stops faithful men from giving advice.
He removes the wisdom of old men.
21 He causes rulers to be ashamed.
He destroys the power of strong men.
22 He shows people things that have been secrets.
He shines light into dark places.
23 He can make nations become great.
He can also destroy them.
He can make their land become bigger.
He can also send their people away to other places.
24 He stops the world's leaders from understanding things properly.
He sends them to travel through empty deserts.
25 They try to walk in the dark, without any light.
He causes them to walk like drunk men.
Footnotes
- 12:1 In chapters 12 to 14, Job speaks, first to Zophar and then to God. The things that Zophar has said do not help Job. Job knows everything that Zophar has told him. The wrong things that he has done have not caused his troubles. He knows that. Then Job speaks to God. He asks God to stop making him afraid. He asks God to stop all the bad things that are happening.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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