12:1 Then Job answered and said,

12:2 No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.

12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

12:4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

12:5 In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

12:6 The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].

12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:

12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

12:9 Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

12:11 Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?

12:12 With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.

12:13 With [God] is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.

12:14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

12:15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

12:16 With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

12:17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.

12:18 He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.

12:19 He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.

12:20 He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.

12:21 He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.

12:22 He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

12:23 He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.

12:24 He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

12:25 They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.