Job Affirms God's Power and Wisdom

121 Then Job responded e , 2 "Truly then you are the people , And with you wisdom will die ! 3 "But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these ? 4 "I am a joke to my friends , The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke . 5 "He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt , As prepared for those whose feet slip .

6 "The tents of the destroyers prosper , And those who provoke God are secure , Whom God brings into their power . 7 "But now ask the beasts , and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens , and let them tell you. 8 "Or speak to the earth , and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 "Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this , 10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing , And the breath of all mankind e ? 11 "Does not the ear test words , As the palate tastes its food ?

12 "Wisdom is with aged men , With long life is understanding . 13 "With Him are wisdom and might ; To Him belong counsel and understanding . 14 "Behold , He tears down , and it cannot be rebuilt ; He imprisons a man , and there can be no release . 15 "Behold , He restrains the waters , and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth . 16 "With Him are strength and sound wisdom , The misled and the misleader belong to Him. 17 "He makes counselors walk barefoot And makes fools of judges . 18 "He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle . 19 "He makes priests walk barefoot And overthrows the secure ones . 20 "He deprives the trusted ones of speech And takes away the discernment of the elders . 21 "He pours contempt on nobles And loosens the belt of the strong . 22 "He reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light . 23 "He makes the nations great , then destroys them; He enlarges the nations , then leads them away. 24 "He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth's people And makes them wander in a pathless e waste . 25 "They grope in darkness with no light , And He makes them stagger like a drunken man .