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12Then Job answered: ²“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. ³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? ⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, I am a laughingstock. ⁵Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.

⁶The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hands. ⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ⁸ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. ⁹Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? ¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. ¹¹Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

¹²Is wisdom with the aged, and understanding in length of days? ¹³“With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding. ¹⁴If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up. ¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. ¹⁶With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped, and makes fools of judges. ¹⁸He looses the sash of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. ¹⁹He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. ²¹He pours contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong. ²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. ²³He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away. ²⁴He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste. ²⁵They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.