Job 12

₂No doubt but ye are the people,

And wisdom shall die with you.

₃But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you:

Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

₄I am as one mocked of his neighbour,

Who calleth upon God, and he answereth him:

The just upright man is laughed to scorn.

₅He that is ready to slip with his feet

Is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

₆The tabernacles of robbers prosper,

And they that provoke God are secure;

Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

₇But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;

And the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

₈Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee:

And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

₉Who knoweth not in all these

That the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

₁₀In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind.

₁₁Doth not the ear try words?

And the mouth taste his meat?

₁₂With the ancient is wisdom;

And in length of days understanding.

₁₃With him is wisdom and strength,

He hath counsel and understanding.

₁₄Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again:

He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

₁₅Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up:

Also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

₁₆With him is strength and wisdom:

The deceived and the deceiver are his.

₁₇He leadeth counsellors away spoiled,

And maketh the judges fools.

₁₈He looseth the bond of kings,

And girdeth their loins with a girdle.

₁₉He leadeth princes away spoiled,

And overthroweth the mighty.

₂₀He removeth away the speech of the trusty,

And taketh away the understanding of the aged.

₂₁He poureth contempt upon princes,

And weakeneth the strength of the mighty.

₂₂He discovereth deep things out of darkness,

And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

₂₃He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them:

He enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.

₂₄He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth,

And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

₂₅They grope in the dark without light,

And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.