| Chapter 12 |
1 |
Then Job answered, -
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2 |
'No doubt, but you are the people, And wisdom shall die with you. -
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3 |
But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these? -
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4 |
I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke. -
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5 |
In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune, It is ready for them whose foot slips. -
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6 |
The tents of robbers prosper, Those who provoke God are secure; Who carry their God in their hands. -
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7 |
'But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you. -
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8 |
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you; The fish of the sea shall declare to you. -
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9 |
Who doesn't know that in all these, The hand of Yahweh has done this, -
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10 |
In whose hand is the life of every living thing, The breath of all mankind? -
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11 |
Doesn't the ear try words, Even as the palate tastes its food? -
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12 |
With aged men is wisdom, In length of days understanding. -
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13 |
'With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding. -
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14 |
Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. -
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15 |
Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth. -
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16 |
With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his. -
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17 |
He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools. -
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18 |
He loosens the bond of kings, He binds their loins with a belt. -
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19 |
He leads priests away stripped, And overthrows the mighty. -
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20 |
He removes the speech of those who are trusted, And takes away the understanding of the elders. -
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21 |
He pours contempt on princes, And loosens the belt of the strong. -
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22 |
He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings out to light the shadow of death. -
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23 |
He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive. -
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24 |
He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. -
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25 |
They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man. -
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