[1] Then Job answered, [2] "No doubt, but you are the people, And wisdom
shall 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 shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and
they shall tell you. [8] Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you;
The fish of the sea shall declare to you. [9] Who doesn`t know that in all
these, The hand of Yahweh has done this, [10] In whose hand is the life
of every living thing, 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 loins 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.
