12:1 Then Job answered and said, 12:2 No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you. 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? 12:4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock. 12:5 In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth. 12:6 The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee: 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 12:9 Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? 12:11 Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food? 12:12 With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding. 12:13 With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding. 12:14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. 12:15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his. 12:17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools. 12:18 He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle. 12:19 He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty. 12:20 He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders. 12:21 He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong. 12:22 He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death. 12:23 He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive. 12:24 He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. 12:25 They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.