Job 12
1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
Then 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 you are the people; wisdom will 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. Indeed, who does not know 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 something for my neighbor to laugh at— I, one who called on God and who was answered by him! I, a just and blameless man—I am now something to laugh at.
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.
In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune; he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is slipping.
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 tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God feel secure; their own hands are their gods.
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 now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.
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 will teach you; the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
Which animal among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this?
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
In his hand is the life 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].
Does not the ear test words just as the palate tastes its food?
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
With aged men is wisdom; in length of days is understanding.
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
With God are wisdom and might; he has 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].
See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again; if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.
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.
See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up; and if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
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 wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow; he turns judges into fools.
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
He takes off the chain of authority from kings; he wraps a cloth about their waists.
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 leads priests away barefoot in sorrow and overthrows mighty people.
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 removes the speech of those who had been trusted and takes away 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 contempt upon princes and unfastens the belt of strong people.
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.
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 makes nations strong, and he also destroys them; He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth; he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
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; he makes them stagger like a drunk man.
