Job 12 – read and compare multiple versions
Job 12
[1] Then 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 doesn’t know such things as these?
[4] I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor,
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
[5] In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
[6] The tents of robbers prosper.
Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their god in their hands. [7] “But ask the animals now, and they will teach you;
the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
[8] Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
The fish of the sea will declare to you.
[9] Who doesn’t know that in all these,
Yahweh’s hand has done this,
[10] in whose hand is the life of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind?
[11] Doesn’t the ear try words,
even as the palate tastes its food?
[12] With aged men is wisdom,
in length of days understanding. [13] “With God is wisdom and might.
He has counsel and understanding.
[14] Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again.
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
[15] Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up.
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
[16] With him is strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
[17] He leads counselors away stripped.
He makes judges fools.
[18] He loosens the bond of kings.
He binds their waist with a belt.
[19] He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
[20] He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
[21] He pours contempt on princes,
and loosens the belt of the strong.
[22] He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
and brings out to light the shadow of death.
[23] He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
[24] He takes away understanding from 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.
He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
[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 doesn’t know such things as these?
[4] I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor,
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
[5] In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
[6] The tents of robbers prosper.
Those who provoke God are secure,
who carry their god in their hands. [7] “But ask the animals now, and they will teach you;
the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
[8] Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
The fish of the sea will declare to you.
[9] Who doesn’t know that in all these,
Yahweh’s hand has done this,
[10] in whose hand is the life of every living thing,
and the breath of all mankind?
[11] Doesn’t the ear try words,
even as the palate tastes its food?
[12] With aged men is wisdom,
in length of days understanding. [13] “With God is wisdom and might.
He has counsel and understanding.
[14] Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again.
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
[15] Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up.
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
[16] With him is strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
[17] He leads counselors away stripped.
He makes judges fools.
[18] He loosens the bond of kings.
He binds their waist with a belt.
[19] He leads priests away stripped,
and overthrows the mighty.
[20] He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
[21] He pours contempt on princes,
and loosens the belt of the strong.
[22] He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
and brings out to light the shadow of death.
[23] He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
[24] He takes away understanding from 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.
He makes them stagger like a drunken man.