Job 12 Job Defends Himself Against the Accusations of His Friends

 Job 12

Job Defends Himself Against the Accusations of His Friends

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 Surely you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

3 I also have a heart like yours, and I am not inferior to you; and who does not know such things as these?

4 I am a laughingstock to my friends; I who call upon God, and he answers me; the just and the upright are a laughingstock.

5 A contemptible torch is in the sight of him who is at ease, who is ready to stumble with his feet.

6 The tents of the desolate have rest, and those who provoke God are safe; God has put everything in their hands.

7 But ask now the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; even the fish of the sea will tell you.

9 Who does not understand in all these things that the hand of the Lord has done this, 

10 Who is in His hand the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all human flesh? 

11 Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes food? 

12 With the aged is wisdom, and in long life understanding. 

13 With Him are wisdom and strength; He has counsel and understanding. 

14 Behold, He tears down, and it shall not be built again; and to him who He shuts in, it shall not be opened. 

15 Behold, He holds back the waters, and they dry up; He sends them out, and they overturn the earth. 

16 With Him are strength and wisdom; He is the one who errs and who causes to err. 

17 He leads counselors away spoiled, and makes judges go mad. 

18 He looses the bands of kings, and binds the girdle around their waist. 

19 He leads princes away as plunder, and overthrows the mighty. 

20 He takes away the speech of the trusty, and takes away the understanding of the aged. 

21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the mighty. 

22 He reveals the depths of darkness, and brings forth the shadow of death. 

23 He multiplies nations, and destroys them; he scatters nations, and leads them again. 

24 He takes away the hearts of the princes of the nations of the earth, and makes them wander in the deserts, without a path. 

25 They grope in the darkness, without light, and makes them mad like drunkards.