1Then Job answered and said:
2“Truly you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!
3But I too have a mind like you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know things like these?
4I have become a laughingstock to my friend—one who called on God and he answered him—a laughingstock, the righteous, the blameless one.
5For misfortune there is contempt, in the thought of the one at ease—it is ready for those whose feet slip.
6The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure—those who bring their god in their hand.
7But ask now the beasts, and they will teach you, and the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, and the fish of the sea will recount to you.
9Who does not know by all these that the hand of Yahweh has done this?
10In whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all human flesh.
11Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes its food?
12With the aged is wisdom, and in length of days, understanding.
13With him are wisdom and might; his are counsel and understanding.
14Look, he tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; he shuts a man in, and it cannot be opened.
15Look, he holds back the waters, and they dry up; he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16With him are strength and sound wisdom; his are the one who errs and the one who leads astray.
17He leads counselors away stripped, and makes judges into fools.
18He loosens the bond of kings and binds a loincloth on their waists.
19He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
20He removes the speech of the trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21He pours contempt on nobles, and loosens the belt of the strong.
22He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings deep shadow into the light.
23He makes nations great, then destroys them; he spreads out the nations, then leads them away.
24He removes the understanding of the heads of the people of the land, and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.
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