1 T hen Job answered and said:

2 “ No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you!

3 B ut I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

4 “ I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed.

5 A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; It is made ready for those whose feet slip.

6 T he tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure— In what God provides by His hand.

7 “ But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

8 O r speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

9 W ho among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this,

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

11 D oes not the ear test words And the mouth taste its food?

12 W isdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding.

13 “ With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding.

14 I f He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.

15 I f He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

16 W ith Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

17 H e leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges.

18 H e loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt.

19 H e leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty.

20 H e deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.

21 H e pours contempt on princes, And disarms the mighty.

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

23 H e makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them.

24 H e takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.

25 T hey grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.