Job 12 - American Standard Version 2015

¹ Then Job answered and said,

² No doubt but ye are the people,\par\tab And wisdom shall die with you.

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

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

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

⁶ The tents of robbers prosper,\par\tab And they that provoke God are secure;\par\tab Into whose hand God bringeth {\i abundantly}.\par

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

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

⁹ Who knoweth not in all these,\par\tab That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

¹⁰ In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,\par\tab And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹ Doth not the ear try words,\par\tab Even as the palate tasteth its food?

¹² With aged men is wisdom,\par\tab And in length of days understanding.\par

¹³ With {\i God} is wisdom and might;\par\tab He hath counsel and understanding.

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

¹⁵ Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up;\par\tab Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom;\par\tab The deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away stripped,\par\tab And judges maketh he fools.

¹⁸ He looseth the bond of kings,\par\tab And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.

¹⁹ He leadeth priests away stripped,\par\tab And overthroweth the mighty.

²⁰ He removeth the speech of the trusty,\par\tab And taketh away the understanding of the elders.

²¹ He poureth contempt upon princes,\par\tab And looseth the belt of the strong.

²² He uncovereth deep things out of darkness,\par\tab And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

²³ He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them:\par\tab He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.

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

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