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.
No doubt but ye [are] the people, 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 have understanding as well as you; I [am] not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
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.
I am [as] one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright [man is] laughed to scorn.
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.
He that is ready to slip with [his] feet [is as] a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].
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, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell 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].
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
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].
Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
With the ancient [is] wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
With him [is] wisdom and strength, he hath 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].
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
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.
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
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 [is] strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver [are] his.
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth 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 leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
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 removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
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 poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to 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.
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them [again].
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way.
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like [a] drunken [man].
