Job 12 · Clearspring

Job Presents His Case

¹Then Job answered:+ ²“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!+ ³But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?+ ⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.+ ⁵The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.+ ⁶The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure — those who carry their god in their hands.+ ⁷But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.+ ⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.+ ⁹Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?+ ¹⁰The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.+ ¹¹Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?+ ¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.+ ¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.+ ¹⁴What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.+ ¹⁵If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.+ ¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.+ ¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.+ ¹⁸He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.+ ¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.+ ²⁰He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.+ ²¹He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.+ ²²He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.+ ²³He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.+ ²⁴He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.+ ²⁵They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.’’+

Job Presents His Case

Study Job 12