12:2 "You certainly are [wise] people, and when you die, wisdom will die.
12:3 Like you, I have a mind. I am not inferior to you. But who doesn't know these things?
12:4 I am a laughingstock to my neighbors. I am one who calls on God and expects an answer. A man of integrity, a man who is righteous, has become a laughingstock.
12:5 "A person who has an easy life has no appreciation for misfortune. He thinks it is the fate of those who slip up.
12:6 [But] robbers' tents are prosperous, and there is security for those who provoke God, for those whose god is their power.
12:7 "Instead, ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds, and they will tell you.
12:8 Or speak with the earth, and it will teach you. Even the fish will relate [the story] to you.
12:9 What creature doesn't know that the LORD's hands made it?
12:10 The life of every living creature and the spirit in every human body are in his hands.
12:11 Doesn't the ear distinguish sounds and the tongue taste food?
12:12 "Wisdom is with the ancient one. The one who has had many days has insight.
12:13 God has wisdom and strength. Advice and insight are his.
12:14 When he tears [something] down, it cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, that person cannot be freed.
12:15 When he holds back the waters, there is a drought. When he releases them, they flood the earth.
12:16 "God has power and priceless wisdom. He owns [both] the deceiver and the person who is deceived.
12:17 He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools out of judges.
12:18 He loosens kings' belts and strips them of their pants.
12:19 He leads priests away barefoot and misleads those who serve in a temple.
12:20 He makes trusted advisers unable to speak and takes away the good judgment of respected leaders.
12:21 He pours contempt on influential people and unbuckles the belt of the mighty.
12:22 He uncovers mysteries [hidden] in the darkness and brings gloom into the light.
12:23 He makes nations important and then destroys them. He makes nations large and leads them away.
12:24 He takes away the common sense of a country's leaders and makes them stumble about in a pathless wilderness.
12:25 They grope in the dark with no light, and he makes them stumble like drunks.
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