< Job 12 >

1 Then Iob answered, and sayde,
Then Job said [to his three friends],
2 In deede because that ye are the people onely, wisedome must dye 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 haue vnderstanding aswel as you, and am not inferior vnto you: yea, who knoweth not such things?
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 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth vpon God, and he heareth him: the iust and the vpright is laughed to scorne.
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 Hee that is readie to fall, is as a lampe despised in the opinion of the riche.
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 The tabernacles of robbers doe prosper, and they are in safetie, that prouoke God, whome God hath enriched with his hand.
Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
7 Aske now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the foules of the heauen, and they shall tell thee:
“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 Or speake to the earth, and it shall shewe thee: or the fishes of the sea, and they shall declare vnto thee.
[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 is ignorant of all these, but that the hande of the Lord hath made these?
All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
10 In whose hande is the soule of euery liuing thing, and the breath of all mankinde.
He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
11 Doeth not the eares discerne the words? and the mouth taste meate for it selfe?
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 Among the ancient is wisedome, and in the length of dayes is vnderstanding.
Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
13 With him is wisedome and strength: he hath counsell and vnderstanding.
but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
14 Beholde, he will breake downe, and it can not be built: he shutteth a man vp, and he can not be loosed.
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 Beholde, he withholdeth the waters, and they drie vp: but when he sendeth them out, they destroy the earth.
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 is strength and wisedome: hee that is deceiued, and that deceiueth, are his.
He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
17 He causeth the counsellers to goe as spoyled, and maketh the iudges fooles.
He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
18 He looseth the collar of Kings, and girdeth their loynes 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 leadeth away the princes as a pray, and ouerthroweth the mightie.
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 taketh away the speach from the faithfull counsellers, and taketh away the iudgement of the ancient.
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 powreth contempt vpon princes, and maketh the strength of the mightie weake.
He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
22 He discouereth the deepe places from their darkenesse, and bringeth foorth the shadowe of death to light.
He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
23 He increaseth the people, and destroyeth them: he inlargeth the nations, and bringeth them in againe.
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 He taketh away the heartes of the that are the chiefe ouer the people of the earth, and maketh them to wander in the wildernes out of the way.
He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
25 They grope in the darke without light: and he maketh the to stagger like a drunken man.
They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”

< Job 12 >