Home Master Index
←Prev   Job 12 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


12:1  Then Job answered:
12:2  “You really think you are the only wise people. You think 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  People who are comfortable don’t care that others have trouble. They think that people who are in trouble should have more troubles.
12:6  The tents of robbers are not bothered. 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 supposed to be wise. Long life is supposed to bring understanding.
12:13  “But God has wisdom and power. He has good advice and understanding.
12:14  What God tears down cannot be rebuilt. The man God puts in prison cannot be let out.
12:15  If God holds back the waters, there is a time without rain. But if he lets the waters go, they flood the land.
12:16  God is strong and victorious. Both the person who fools others and the one who is fooled belong to him.
12:17  God leads wise men away as captives. He turns wise judges into fools.
12:18  God takes the royal belt off of kings. And he dresses them like prisoners with only a cloth around their waist.
12:19  He leads priests away as captives. He destroys the power of those who have been powerful.
12:20  God makes trusted people be silent. And he takes away the wisdom of elders.
12:21  God brings disgrace on important people. And he takes away the weapons of the strong.
12:22  God uncovers the deep things of darkness. He brings dark shadows into the light.
12:23  He makes nations great, and he destroys them. He makes nations large, and he scatters them.
12:24  He takes understanding away from the leaders of the earth. He makes them wander through a desert with no paths.
12:25  They feel around in darkness with no light. God makes them stumble around like drunken people.