[1] And Job answered: [2] "No doubt but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you! [3] But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who does not know such things as these? [4] "I am a laughingstock to my neighbor, who calls upon God, and He answers him; the righteous, upright man is a laughingstock. [5] He whose foot is unsteady is despised in the thoughts of him who is at ease. [6] The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, into whose hand they bring their own god. [7] "But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the air, and let them tell you; [8] or speak to the earth, let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. [9] Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, [10] in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind? [11] Does not the ear test words and the mouth taste its food? [12] Wisdom is with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life. [13] "With Him are wisdom and strength; He has counsel and understanding. [14] Surely, He tears down, and it cannot be built again; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. [15] Surely, He withholds the waters, and they dry up; also He sends them out, and they overthrow the earth. [16] With Him are strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are His. [17] He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges. [18] He has loosened the bonds imposed by kings and bound their waist with a belt. [19] He leads away priests stripped and overthrows the mighty. [20] He removes speech from the trusted ones and takes away the understanding of the aged. [21] He pours contempt upon princes and loosens the belt of the mighty. [22] He uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings the shadow of death to light. [23] He increases the nations and destroys them; He enlarges the nations and guides them. [24] He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. [25] They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them to stagger like a drunk man.
