[1] Then Job answered and said, [2] No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you. [3] But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? [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. [5] In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth. [6] The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. [7] But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee: [8] Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. [9] Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, [10] In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? [11] Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food? [12] With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding. [13] With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding. [14] Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. [15] Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. [16] With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his. [17] He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools. [18] He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle. [19] He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty. [20] He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders. [21] He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong. [22] He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death. [23] He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive. [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. [25] They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
