Job

12 Then responded Job and said:—

2 Of a truth ye are the people, And with you wisdom will die.

3 I also have a mind like you, I fall not short of you, But who hath not such things as these?

4 A laughing-stock to one’s neighbour do I become, One who hath called upon God and he hath answered him! A laughing-stock—a righteous man without blame!

5 For ruin there is contempt in the thought of the man at ease,—Ready, for such as are of faltering foot!

6 At peace are the tents that belong to the spoilers And there is security to them who provoke God, To him who bringeth a god in his hand.

7 But in very deed ask, I pray thee, the beasts and they will teach thee, And the bird of the heavens and it will tell thee;

8 Or address the earth, and it will teach thee, And the fishes of the sea will recount it to thee:

9 Who knoweth not, among all these, That the hand of Yahweh hath done this?

10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the spirit of all the flesh of men.

11 Doth not the ear try words? Even as the palate tasteth for itself food?

12 In the Ancient is wisdom, And [in] Length of Days understanding:

13 With Him are wisdom and strength, To Him pertain counsel and understanding.

14 Lo! He pulleth down and it cannot be built, He closeth up over a man and it cannot be opened:

15 Lo! He holdeth back the waters and they dry up, Or sendeth them out and they transform the earth:

16 With Him is strength and effective wisdom, To Him belong he that erreth and he that causeth to err.

17 Who leadeth away counsellors [as] a spoil, And judges He befooleth:

18 The fetters of kings He looseth, Or hath bound a slave’s waistcloth about their loins:

19 Who leadeth away priests [as] a spoil, And men firmly seated He overturneth:

20 Setting aside the speech of the trusty, And the discernment of elders He taketh away:

21 Pouring contempt upon nobles, And the girdle of the mighty hath He loosed:

22 Laying open deep things out of darkness, And bringing out to light the death-shade:

23 Who giveth greatness to nations or destroyeth them, Who spreadeth out nations or leadeth them into exile:

24 Who taketh away the sense of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And hath caused them to wander in a pathless waste:

25 They grope about in the dark having no light, And He hath made them to reel like a drunken man.