VerseAI

NIV

Job 12

  1. 1<pb/>Then Job replied:
  2. 2<pb/><t>“Doubtless you are the only people who matter,</t> <t>and wisdom will die with you!</t>
  3. 3<t>But I have a mind as well as you;</t> <t>I am not inferior to you.</t> <t>Who does not know all these things? <pb/></t>
  4. 4<t>“I have become a laughingstock to my friends,</t> <t>though I called on God and he answered—</t> <t>a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!</t>
  5. 5<t>Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune</t> <t>as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.</t>
  6. 6<t>The tents of marauders are undisturbed,</t> <t>and those who provoke God are secure—</t> <t>those God has in his hand.<f>[17]</f> <pb/></t>
  7. 7<t>“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,</t> <t>or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;</t>
  8. 8<t>or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,</t> <t>or let the fish in the sea inform you.</t>
  9. 9<t>Which of all these does not know</t> <t>that the hand of the LORD has done this?</t>
  10. 10<t>In his hand is the life of every creature</t> <t>and the breath of all mankind.</t>
  11. 11<t>Does not the ear test words</t> <t>as the tongue tastes food?</t>
  12. 12<t>Is not wisdom found among the aged?</t> <t>Does not long life bring understanding? <pb/></t>
  13. 13<t>“To God belong wisdom and power;</t> <t>counsel and understanding are his.</t>
  14. 14<t>What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;</t> <t>those he imprisons cannot be released.</t>
  15. 15<t>If he holds back the waters, there is drought;</t> <t>if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.</t>
  16. 16<t>To him belong strength and insight;</t> <t>both deceived and deceiver are his.</t>
  17. 17<t>He leads rulers away stripped</t> <t>and makes fools of judges.</t>
  18. 18<t>He takes off the shackles put on by kings</t> <t>and ties a loincloth<f>[18]</f> around their waist.</t>
  19. 19<t>He leads priests away stripped</t> <t>and overthrows officials long established.</t>
  20. 20<t>He silences the lips of trusted advisers</t> <t>and takes away the discernment of elders.</t>
  21. 21<t>He pours contempt on nobles</t> <t>and disarms the mighty.</t>
  22. 22<t>He reveals the deep things of darkness</t> <t>and brings utter darkness into the light.</t>
  23. 23<t>He makes nations great, and destroys them;</t> <t>he enlarges nations, and disperses them.</t>
  24. 24<t>He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;</t> <t>he makes them wander in a trackless waste.</t>
  25. 25<t>They grope in darkness with no light;</t> <t>he makes them stagger like drunkards.</t>