1 T hen Job answered and said,

2 N o doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.

3 B ut 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 I n the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

6 T he tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

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

8 O r speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

9 W ho knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

10 I n whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

11 D oth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?

12 W ith aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.

13 W ith God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.

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

15 B ehold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

16 W ith him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

17 H e leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.

18 H e looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.

19 H e leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.

20 H e removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.

21 H e poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.

22 H e uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

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

24 H e 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 T hey grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.