Job Answers His Critics
Then Job answered and said:
2 “No doubt you are the people,
And wisdom will die with you!
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not ainferior to you.
Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
4 “Ia am one mocked by his friends,
Who bcalled on God, and He answered him,
The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
5 A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;
It is made ready for athose whose feet slip.
6 aThe tents of robbers prosper,
And those who provoke God are secure—
In what God provides by His hand.
7 “But now ask 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;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 aIn whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the bbreath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear test words
And the mouth taste its food?
12 Wisdom is with aged men,
And with length of days, understanding.
13 “With Him are awisdom and strength,
He has counsel and understanding.
14 If aHe breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;
If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
15 If He awithholds the waters, they dry up;
If He bsends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
16 With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away plundered,
And makes fools of the judges.
18 He loosens the bonds of kings,
And binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads princes away plundered,
And overthrows the mighty.
20 aHe deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 aHe pours contempt on princes,
And disarms the mighty.
22 He auncovers deep things out of darkness,
And brings the shadow of death to light.
23 aHe makes nations great, and destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and guides them.
24 He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And amakes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
25 aThey grope in the dark without light,
And He makes them bstagger like a drunken man.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved.