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12:1  Job said to his friends:
12:2  You think you are so great, with all the answers.
12:3  But I know as much as you do, and so does everyone else.
12:4  I have always lived right, and God answered my prayers; now friends make fun of me.
12:5  It's easy to condemn those who are suffering, when you have no troubles.
12:6  Robbers and other godless people live safely at home and say, “God is in our hands!”
12:7  If you want to learn, then go and ask the wild animals and the birds,
12:8  the flowers and the fish.
12:9  Any of them can tell you what the Lord has done.
12:10  Every living creature is in the hands of God.
12:11  We hear with our ears, taste with our tongues,
12:12  and gain some wisdom from those who have lived a long time.
12:13  But God is the real source of wisdom and strength.
12:14  No one can rebuild what he destroys, or release those he has imprisoned.
12:15  God can hold back the rain or send a flood,
12:16  just as he rules over liars and those they lie to.
12:17  God shames counselors, turns judges into fools,
12:18  and makes slaves of kings.
12:19  God removes priests and others who have great power—
12:20  he confuses wise, experienced advisors,
12:21  puts mighty kings to shame, and takes away their power.
12:22  God turns darkness to light;
12:23  he makes nations strong, then shatters their strength.
12:24  God strikes their rulers senseless, then leaves them to roam through barren deserts,
12:25  lost in the dark, staggering like someone drunk.