[1] Then Job answered: [2] "No doubt 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. Who does not know such things as these? [4] I am a
laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a
just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. [5] In the thought of one who
is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose
feet slip. [6] The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God
are secure, who bring their god in their hand. [7] "But ask the beasts, and
they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; [8] or
the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea
will declare to you. [9] Who among all these does not know that the hand of
the LORD has done this? [10] In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind. [11] Does not the ear try words as the
palate tastes food? [12] Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in
length of days. [13] "With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and
understanding. [14] If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man
in, none can open. [15] If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he
sends them out, they overwhelm the land. [16] With him are strength and
wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. [17] He leads counselors
away stripped, and judges he makes fools. [18] He looses the bonds of
kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. [19] He leads priests away
stripped, and overthrows the mighty. [20] He deprives of speech those who
are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. [21] He pours
contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong. [22] He uncovers
the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. [23] He makes
nations great, and he destroys them: he enlarges nations, and leads them
away. [24] He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the
earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste. [25] They grope in the
dark without light; and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
