Job 12
1 And Job answered and said,
Then Job said [to his three friends],
2 So then you [alone] are men, and wisdom shall die with you?
“You (talk as though/You think) [SAR] that you are the people [whom everyone should listen to], and that when you die, there will be no more wise people.
3 [But] I also have a heart as well as you.
But I have as much good sense as you do; I am (not less wise than/certainly as wise as [LIT]) you. Certainly everyone knows [RHQ] all that you have said.
4 For a righteous and blameless man has become a subject for mockery.
My friends all laugh at me now. Previously I habitually requested God to help me, and he answered/helped me. I am righteous, a very godly man [DOU], but everyone laughs at me.
5 For it had been ordained that he should fall under others at the appointed time, and that his houses should be spoiled by transgressors: let not however any one trust that, being evil, he shall be [held] guiltless,
Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
6 even as many as provoke the Lord, as if there were indeed to be no inquisition [made] of them.
Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
7 But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to you; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to you.
“But ask the wild animals [what they know about God], and [if they could speak] they would teach you. [If you could] ask the birds, they would tell you.
8 Tell the earth, if it may speak to you: and the fishes of the sea shall explain to you.
[If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
9 Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has made them?
All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
10 Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man.
He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
11 For the ear tries words, and the palate tastes meats.
And when we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good and what is bad].
12 In length of time is wisdom, and in long life knowledge.
Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
13 With him are wisdom and power, with him counsel and understanding.
but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
14 If he should cast down, who will build up? if he should shut up against man, who shall open?
If he tears [something] down, no one can rebuild it; if he puts someone in prison, no one can open [the prison doors to allow that person to escape].
15 If he should withhold the water, he will dry the earth: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows and destroys it.
When he prevents rain from falling, everything dries up. When he causes a lot of rain to fall, [the result is that] there are floods.
16 With him are strength and power: he has knowledge and understanding.
He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
17 He leads counsellors away captive, and maddens the judges of the earth.
He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
18 He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle.
He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
19 He sends away priests into captivity, and overthrows the mighty ones of the earth.
He takes from priests the sacred clothes that they wear, [with the result that they no longer can do their work], and takes power from those who rule others.
20 He changes the lips of the trusty, and he knows the understanding of the elders.
He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
21 He pours dishonour upon princes, and heals the lowly.
He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
22 Revealing deep things out of darkness: and he has brought into light the shadow of death.
He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
23 Causing the nations to wander, and destroying them: overthrowing the nations, and leading them [away].
He causes some nations to become very great, and [later] he destroys them; he causes the territory of some nations to become much larger, and [later] he causes them to be defeated and their people to be scattered.
24 Perplexing the minds of the princes of the earth: and he causes them to wander in a way, they have not known, [saying],
He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
25 Let them grope [in] darkness, and [let there be] no light, and let them wander as a drunken man.
They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
