Job 12
1 Then Job said [to his three friends],
ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ιωβ λέγει
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.
εἶτα ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἄνθρωποι ἦ μεθ’ ὑμῶν τελευτήσει σοφία
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.
κἀμοὶ μὲν καρδία καθ’ ὑμᾶς ἐστιν
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.
δίκαιος γὰρ ἀνὴρ καὶ ἄμεμπτος ἐγενήθη εἰς χλεύασμα
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.
εἰς χρόνον γὰρ τακτὸν ἡτοίμαστο πεσεῖν ὑπὸ ἄλλους οἴκους τε αὐτοῦ ἐκπορθεῖσθαι ὑπὸ ἀνόμων
6 Bandits live peacefully, and no one threatens those who cause God to become angry; their own strength is the god [that they worship].
οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ μηδεὶς πεποιθέτω πονηρὸς ὢν ἀθῷος ἔσεσθαι ὅσοι παροργίζουσιν τὸν κύριον ὡς οὐχὶ καὶ ἔτασις αὐτῶν ἔσται
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.
ἀλλὰ δὴ ἐπερώτησον τετράποδα ἐάν σοι εἴπωσιν πετεινὰ δὲ οὐρανοῦ ἐάν σοι ἀπαγγείλωσιν
8 [If you could] ask the creatures [that crawl] on the ground, or the fish in the sea, they would tell you [about God].
ἐκδιήγησαι δὲ γῇ ἐάν σοι φράσῃ καὶ ἐξηγήσονταί σοι οἱ ἰχθύες τῆς θαλάσσης
9 All of them certainly know [RHQ] that it is Yahweh who has made them with his hands.
τίς οὐκ ἔγνω ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ὅτι χεὶρ κυρίου ἐποίησεν ταῦτα
10 He directs the lives of all living creatures; he gives breath to all [us] humans [to enable us to remain alive].
εἰ μὴ ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ ψυχὴ πάντων τῶν ζώντων καὶ πνεῦμα παντὸς ἀνθρώπου
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].
οὖς μὲν γὰρ ῥήματα διακρίνει λάρυγξ δὲ σῖτα γεύεται
12 Old people are [often] very wise, and because of having lived many years, they understand much,
ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ σοφία ἐν δὲ πολλῷ βίῳ ἐπιστήμη
13 but God is wise and very powerful; he has good sense and understands [everything].
παρ’ αὐτῷ σοφία καὶ δύναμις αὐτῷ βουλὴ καὶ σύνεσις
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].
ἐὰν καταβάλῃ τίς οἰκοδομήσει ἐὰν κλείσῃ κατὰ ἀνθρώπων τίς ἀνοίξει
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.
ἐὰν κωλύσῃ τὸ ὥδωρ ξηρανεῖ τὴν γῆν ἐὰν δὲ ἐπαφῇ ἀπώλεσεν αὐτὴν καταστρέψας
16 He is the one who is truly strong and wise; he rules over those who deceive others and those whom they deceive.
παρ’ αὐτῷ κράτος καὶ ἰσχύς αὐτῷ ἐπιστήμη καὶ σύνεσις
17 He [sometimes] causes [the king’s] officials to no longer be wise, and he causes judges to become foolish.
διάγων βουλευτὰς αἰχμαλώτους κριτὰς δὲ γῆς ἐξέστησεν
18 He takes from kings the robes that they wear and puts loincloths around their waists, [causing them to become slaves].
καθιζάνων βασιλεῖς ἐπὶ θρόνους καὶ περιέδησεν ζώνῃ ὀσφύας αὐτῶν
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.
ἐξαποστέλλων ἱερεῖς αἰχμαλώτους δυνάστας δὲ γῆς κατέστρεψεν
20 He [sometimes] causes those whom others trust to be unable to speak, and he causes old men to no longer have good sense.
διαλλάσσων χείλη πιστῶν σύνεσιν δὲ πρεσβυτέρων ἔγνω
21 He causes those who have authority to be despised, and he causes those who are powerful to no longer have any power/strength.
ἐκχέων ἀτιμίαν ἐπ’ ἄρχοντας ταπεινοὺς δὲ ἰάσατο
22 He causes things that are hidden in the darkness to be revealed.
ἀνακαλύπτων βαθέα ἐκ σκότους ἐξήγαγεν δὲ εἰς φῶς σκιὰν θανάτου
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.
πλανῶν ἔθνη καὶ ἀπολλύων αὐτά καταστρωννύων ἔθνη καὶ καθοδηγῶν αὐτά
24 He causes [some] rulers to become foolish/stupid, and then he causes them to wander around, lost, in an barren desert.
διαλλάσσων καρδίας ἀρχόντων γῆς ἐπλάνησεν δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁδῷ ᾗ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν
25 They grope around in the darkness, without any light, and he causes them to stagger like [SIM] people who are drunk.”
ψηλαφήσαισαν σκότος καὶ μὴ φῶς πλανηθείησαν δὲ ὥσπερ ὁ μεθύων
