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