Job

 2 “Surely you are the people who know,*

And wisdom will die out with you!

 4 I have become a laughingstock to my companions,+

One calling to God for an answer.+

 5 The carefree person has contempt for calamity,

Thinking it is only for those whose feet are unsteady.*

 6 The tents of robbers are at peace,+

And those who provoke God are secure,+

Those who have their god in their hands.

 7 However, ask, please, the animals, and they will instruct you;

Also the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.

 8 Or give consideration* to the earth, and it will instruct you;

And the fish of the sea will declare it to you.

 9 Who among all these does not know

That the hand of Jehovah has done this?

10 In his hand is the life of every living thing*

And the spirit* of every human.*+

11 Does not the ear test out words

As the tongue* tastes food?+

12 Is not wisdom found among the aged,+

And does not understanding come with a long life?

13 With him there are wisdom and mightiness;+

He has counsel and understanding.+

14 When he tears something down, it cannot be rebuilt;+

What he has shut, no man can open.

15 When he withholds the waters, everything dries up;+

When he sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.+

16 With him there are strength and practical wisdom;+

To him belong the one going astray and the one leading astray;

17 He makes counselors go barefoot,*

And he makes fools of judges.+

18 He loosens the bonds imposed by kings,+

And he binds a belt around their waist.

19 He makes priests walk barefoot,+

And he overthrows those who are firmly established in power;+

20 He deprives trusted advisers of speech

And takes away the sensibleness of old men;*

21 He pours out contempt upon nobles,+

And he makes powerful ones weak;*

22 He reveals deep things from the darkness,+

And he brings deep darkness into the light;

23 He makes nations grow great in order to destroy them;

He enlarges nations, that he may lead them into exile.

24 He takes away the understanding* of the leaders of the people

And makes them wander in trackless wastelands.+

25 They grope in darkness,+ where there is no light;

He makes them wander about like drunken men.+