¹Then Job answered ,

²“No doubt, but you are the people ,

and wisdom will die with you .

³But I have understanding as well as you ;

I am not inferior to you .

Yes , who doesn’t know such things as these?

⁴I am like one who is a joke to his neighbour ,

I , who called on God, and he answered .

The just , the blameless man is a joke .

⁵In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.

It is ready for them whose foot slips.

⁶The tents of robbers prosper .

Those who provoke God are secure,

who carry their god in their hands .

⁷“But ask the animals now , and they will teach you ;

the birds of the sky , and they will tell you .

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you .

The fish of the sea will declare to you .

⁹Who doesn’t know that in all these ,

the LORD ’s hand has done this ,

¹⁰in whose hand is the life of every living thing ,

and the breath of all mankind ?

¹¹Doesn’t the ear try words ,

even as the palate tastes its food?

¹²With aged men is wisdom ,

in length of days understanding .

¹³“With God is wisdom and might .

He has counsel and understanding .

¹⁴Behold , he breaks down , and it can ’t be built again .

He imprisons a man, and there can be no release .

¹⁵Behold , he withholds the waters , and they dry up .

Again , he sends them out , and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶With him is strength and wisdom .

The deceived and the deceiver are his .

¹⁷He leads counsellors away stripped .

He makes judges fools .

¹⁸He loosens the bond of kings .

He binds their waist with a belt.

¹⁹He leads priests away stripped ,

and overthrows the mighty.

²⁰He removes the speech of those who are trusted,

and takes away the understanding of the elders .

²¹He pours contempt on princes ,

and loosens the belt of the strong.

²²He uncovers deep things out of darkness ,

and brings out to light the shadow of death .

²³He increases the nations , and he destroys them .

He enlarges the nations , and he leads them captive.

²⁴He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,

and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way .

²⁵They grope in the dark without light.

He makes them stagger like a drunken man .