12:1 Then Job answered,

12:2 No doubt, but you 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: Yes, who doesn`t know such things as these?

12:4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.

12:5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune, It is ready for them whose foot slips.

12:6 The tents of robbers prosper, Those who provoke God are secure; Who carry their God in their hands.

12:7 But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.

12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you; The fish of the sea shall declare to you.

12:9 Who doesn`t know that in all these, The hand of Yahweh has done this,

12:10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, The breath of all mankind?

12:11 Doesn`t the ear try words, Even as the palate tastes its food?

12:12 With aged men is wisdom, In length of days understanding.

12:13 With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.

12:14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can`t be built again; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

12:15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sends 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 leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.

12:18 He loosens the bond of kings, He binds their loins with a belt.

12:19 He leads priests away stripped, And overthrows the mighty.

12:20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, And takes away the understanding of the elders.

12:21 He pours contempt on princes, And loosens the belt of the strong.

12:22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings out to light the shadow of death.

12:23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.

12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.