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12:1  Then Job answered:
12:2  “You really think you are the only wise people and that when you die, wisdom will die with you!
12:3  But my mind is as good as yours; you are not better than I am. Everyone knows all these things.
12:4  My friends all laugh at me when I call on God and expect him to answer me; they laugh at me even though I am right and innocent!
12:5  Those who are comfortable don’t care that others have trouble; they think it right that those people should have troubles.
12:6  The tents of robbers are not bothered, and those who make God angry are safe. They have their god in their pocket.
12:7  “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
12:8  Speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea tell you.
12:9  Every one of these knows that the hand of the Lord has done this.
12:10  The life of every creature and the breath of all people are in God’s hand.
12:11  The ear tests words as the tongue tastes food.
12:12  Older people are wise, and long life brings understanding.
12:13  “But only God has wisdom and power, good advice and understanding.
12:14  What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; anyone he puts in prison cannot be let out.
12:15  If God holds back the waters, there is no rain; if he lets the waters go, they flood the land.
12:16  He is strong and victorious; both the one who fools others and the one who is fooled belong to him.
12:17  God leads the wise away as captives and turns judges into fools.
12:18  He takes off chains that kings put on and puts a garment on their bodies.
12:19  He leads priests away naked and destroys the powerful.
12:20  He makes trusted people be silent and takes away the wisdom of elders.
12:21  He brings disgrace on important people and takes away the weapons of the strong.
12:22  He uncovers the deep things of darkness and brings dark shadows into the light.
12:23  He makes nations great and then destroys them; he makes nations large and then scatters them.
12:24  He takes understanding away from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander through a pathless desert.
12:25  They feel around in darkness with no light; he makes them stumble like drunks.