Job 12

¹Then Job, answering, said

²Are you, therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you

³And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which you know

⁴He who is mocked by his friends as I am, will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the sincerity of the just that is being mocked

⁵The lamp that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the appointed time

⁶The tabernacles of robbers are numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he who has given all things into their hands

⁷In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you

⁸Speak with the earth, and it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain

⁹Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made all these things

¹⁰In his hand is the soul of all the living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind

¹¹Does not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating, perceive flavor

¹²In old age is wisdom, and in length of days is prudence

¹³With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding

¹⁴If he tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a man, there is no one who can open

¹⁵If he restrains the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth, they will subdue the land

¹⁶With him is strength and wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived

¹⁷He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to stupidity

¹⁸He removes the belt of kings and encircles their waist with a rope

¹⁹He leads away priests in dishonor and displaces nobles

²⁰altering the lips of those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of the aged

²¹He pours disdain upon the leaders, relieving those who had been oppressed

²²He reveals the depths of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the light

²³He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and, having been overthrown, he restores them anew

²⁴He transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and misleads those who in vain advance upon the inviolable

²⁵They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and he will make them stagger like drunkards