1 ¶ And Job answered and said,

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

3 B ut I have a heart as well as you; I am not inferior to you; and who shall not be able to say as much again?

4 H e who invokes God and he answers him is mocked by his friend; the just and perfect man is laughed to scorn.

5 T he torch is held in low esteem in the thought of him that is prosperous, which was prepared to guard against a slip of the feet.

6 ¶ The tents of robbers are at ease, and those that provoke God and those who carry gods in their hands live secure.

7 B ut ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the heavens, and they shall show thee;

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

9 W hat thing of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD made them?

10 I n his hand is the soul of every living thing and the spirit of all flesh of man.

11 C ertainly the ear proves words and the mouth tastes foods.

12 ¶ With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days intelligence.

13 W ith him is wisdom and strength; he has counsel and intelligence.

14 B ehold, he shall break down, and it shall not be built again; he shall shut up a man, and no one shall be able to open unto him.

15 B ehold, he shall withhold the waters, and they shall dry up; also he shall send them forth, and they shall destroy the earth.

16 W ith him is strength and existence; he who errs and he who leads astray are his.

17 H e causes the counsellors to walk away stripped of counsel and makes the judges to be fools.

18 H e looses the bond of kings and girds their loins with a girdle.

19 H e leads priests away spoiled and overthrows the mighty.

20 H e impedes the lips of those that speak the truth and takes away the counsel of the aged.

21 H e pours contempt upon princes and weakens the strength of the mighty.

22 H e uncovers the depths of the darkness and brings out to light the shadow of death.

23 H e multiplies the Gentiles and destroys them; he scatters the Gentiles and gathers them again.

24 H e takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the earth and causes them to become lost, wandering without a way.

25 T hey grope in the darkness and not the light, and he causes them to err like drunken men.