Brand Logo
Job 12
ESV

Job12

Job Replies: The Lord Has Done This
1Then Job answered and said:

2“No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3But I have 12:3 [ch. 13:2; 15:9] understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know 12:3 ch. 16:2such things as these?
4I am 12:4 ch. 16:10; 17:2, 6; 21:3; 30:1a laughingstock to my friends;
I, who 12:4 Ps. 91:15called to God and he answered me,
a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
5In the thought of one who is 12:5 ch. 3:18at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
it is ready for those whose feet slip.
612:6 See ch. 21:7The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
who bring their god in their hand.12:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

7“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;12:8 Or or speak to the earth, and it will teach you
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9Who among all these does not know
that 12:9 Isa. 41:20; [ch. 1:21]the hand of the Lord has done this?
10In 12:10 Num. 16:22; Dan. 5:23; Acts 17:28his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
11Does not 12:11 ch. 34:3the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12Wisdom is with 12:12 ch. 32:7; [Ps. 119:100]the aged,
and understanding in length of days.

1312:13 [ch. 9:4; 36:5]“With God12:13 Hebrew him are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
14If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he 12:14 ch. 11:10; [Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7]shuts a man in, none can open.
15If he 12:15 [Deut. 11:17; 1 Kgs. 8:35; 17:1] withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he 12:15 [Gen. 7:11-24; Ps. 147:18; Amos 9:6]sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16With him are strength and 12:16 [ch. 5:12]sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17He leads 12:17 [2 Sam. 17:23] counselors away stripped,
and 12:17 ch. 9:24; Isa. 40:23; [Isa. 29:14; 44:25; 1 Cor. 1:19]judges he makes fools.
18He 12:18 Ps. 116:16looses the bonds of kings
and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
19He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20He deprives of speech those who are trusted
12:20 [ch. 32:9]and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21He 12:21 Ps. 107:40pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22He 12:22 Dan. 2:22; 1 Cor. 4:5uncovers the deeps out of darkness
and brings 12:22 See ch. 3:5deep darkness to light.
23He 12:23 Isa. 9:3; 26:15makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and 12:23 [2 Kgs. 18:11]leads them away.
24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
and 12:24 Ps. 107:40; [ch. 6:18]makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25They 12:25 See ch. 5:14grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them 12:25 Ps. 107:27; Isa. 19:14stagger like a drunken man.