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