Job 12
1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
And Job answered and said,
2 “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.
So then ye [alone] are men, and wisdom shall die with you?
3 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.
[But] I also have a heart as well as you.
4 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.
For a righteous and blameless man has become a subject for mockery.
5 Those [like you] who have no troubles make fun of me; they cause those [like me] who are already suffering to have more troubles.
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,
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
even as many as provoke the Lord, as if there were indeed to be no inquisition [made] of them.
7 “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.
But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to thee; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to thee.
8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
Tell the earth, if it may speak to thee: and the fishes of the sea shall explain to thee.
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has made them?
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man.
11 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].
For the ear tries words, and the palate tastes meats.
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
In length of time is wisdom, and in long life knowledge.
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
With him are wisdom and power, with him counsel and understanding.
14 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].
If he should cast down, who will build up? if he should shut up against man, who shall open?
15 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.
If he should withhold the water, he will dry the earth: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows and destroys it.
16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
With him are strength and power: he has knowledge and understanding.
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
He leads counsellors away captive, and maddens the judges of the earth.
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle.
19 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.
He sends away priests into captivity, and overthrows the mighty ones of the earth.
20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
He changes the lips of the trusty, and he knows the understanding of the elders.
21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
He pours dishonour upon princes, and heals the lowly.
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
Revealing deep things out of darkness: and he has brought into light the shadow of death.
23 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.
Causing the nations to wander, and destroying them: overthrowing the nations, and leading them [away].
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
Perplexing the minds of the princes of the earth: and he causes them to wander in a way, they have not known, [saying],
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
Let them grope [in] darkness, and [let there be] no light, and let them wander as a drunken man.
