Job 12

Job Calls Out His Friends

1 Then Job spoke up.

2 “Man, you all really think you the only ones with wisdom. When you all die, all knowledge dies with you, huh,

3 But I got understanding too. I am not beneath you. Who do not know what you all just said,

4 I am the one my friends clown, me, a man who calls on God and gets answered. You all mocking the one who is upright and blameless.

5 When someone is living comfortable, it is easy for them to laugh at folks catching hell, to push the ones already slipping.

6 But the tents of robbers are cool, the ones who provoke God stay safe, the ones who think they run the show.”

God’s Power Over Creation

7 “Ask the animals, they will teach you. The birds in the sky, they will tell you.

8 Speak to the earth, it will teach you. The fish in the sea will explain it.

9 Who does not know all this, That the Lord’s hand has done it.

10 In His hand is the life of every creature, the breath of all humanity.

11 Does not the ear test words like the tongue tastes food,

12 Wisdom lives with the aged, and understanding comes with long life.

13 But with God is wisdom and strength; He has got counsel and understanding.”

God’s Unstoppable Power

14 “What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; when He locks somebody up, they are not getting out.

15 If He holds back water, everything dries up. If He lets it loose, the earth gets flooded.

16 Strength and wisdom belong to Him; the deceived and the deceiver both belong to Him.

17 He leads counselors away stripped, judges made fools.

18 He loosens kings’ chains and ties a belt around their waist.

19 He drags priests away barefoot and overthrows strong men.

20 He shuts the mouths of trusted advisors, takes away the sense of elders.

21 He pours contempt on nobles and strips the mighty of their strength.

22 He reveals deep things hidden in darkness; He brings the shadow of death into the light.

23 He makes nations rise and He makes nations fall. He enlarges them, then scatters them.

24 He strips the leaders of the earth of wisdom and makes them wander lost in a wasteland with no path.

25 They grope in the dark without light; He makes them stagger like drunk men.”