Book - Job - Chapter = 12 --> NLT
-
Then Job spoke again:
-
"You really know everything, don't you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
-
Well, I know a few things myself--and you're no better than I am. Who doesn't know these things you've been saying?
-
Yet my friends laugh at me. I am a man who calls on God and receives an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.
-
People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.
-
But even robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God--and God has them in his power--live in safety!
-
"Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
-
Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you.
-
They all know that the LORD has done this.
-
For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity.
-
Just as the mouth tastes good food, so the ear tests the words it hears.
-
Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to those who have lived many years.
-
"But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his.
-
What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he closes in on someone, there is no escape.
-
If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
-
"Yes, strength and wisdom are with him; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
-
He leads counselors away stripped of good judgment; he drives judges to madness.
-
He removes the royal robe of kings. With ropes around their waist, they are led away.
-
He leads priests away stripped of status; he overthrows the mighty.
-
He silences the trusted adviser, and he removes the insight of the elders.
-
He pours disgrace upon princes and confiscates weapons from the strong.
-
"He floods the darkness with light; he brings light to the deepest gloom.
-
He raises up nations, and he destroys them. He makes nations expand, and he abandons them.
-
He takes away the understanding of kings, and he leaves them wandering in a wasteland without a path.
-
They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.