Job 12
12
Job Replies: The Lord Has Done This
1Then Job answered and said:
2“No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3But I have #[ch. 13:2; 15:9] understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know #ch. 16:2such things as these?
4I am #ch. 16:10; 17:2, 6; 21:3; 30:1 a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who #Ps. 91:15called to God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
5In the thought of one who is #ch. 3:18at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
it is ready for those whose feet slip.
6 # See ch.
21:7
The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hand.#12:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
7“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;#12:8 Or or speak to the earth, and it will teach you
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9Who among all these does not know
that #Isa. 41:20; [ch. 1:21]the hand of the Lord has done this?
10In #Num. 16:22; Dan. 5:23; Acts 17:28his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
11Does not #ch. 34:3the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12Wisdom is with #ch. 32:7; [Ps. 119:100]the aged,
and understanding in length of days.
13 # [ch.
9:4; 36:5 ] “With God#12:13 Hebrew him are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
14If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he #ch. 11:10; [Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7]shuts a man in, none can open.
15If he #[Deut. 11:17; 1 Kgs. 8:35; 17:1] withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he #[Gen. 7:11-24; Ps. 147:18; Amos 9:6]sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16With him are strength and #[ch. 5:12]sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17He leads #[2 Sam. 17:23] counselors away stripped,
and #ch. 9:24; Isa. 40:23; [Isa. 29:14; 44:25; 1 Cor. 1:19]judges he makes fools.
18He #Ps. 116:16looses the bonds of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
19He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20He deprives of speech those who are trusted
# [ch.
32:9
] and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21He #Ps. 107:40pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22He #Dan. 2:22; 1 Cor. 4:5 uncovers the deeps out of darkness
and brings #See ch. 3:5deep darkness to light.
23He #Isa. 9:3; 26:15 makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and #[2 Kgs. 18:11]leads them away.
24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
and #Ps. 107:40; [ch. 6:18]makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25They #See ch. 5:14 grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them #Ps. 107:27; Isa. 19:14stagger like a drunken man.
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Job 12: ESV
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