[1] Then Job answered and said,
[2] No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.
[3] But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
[4] I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
[5] In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
[6] The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
[7] But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
[8] Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
[9] Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
[10] In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
[11] Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?
[12] With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.
[13] With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.
[14] Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
[15] Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
[16] With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.
[17] He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.
[18] He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
[19] He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.
[20] He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
[21] He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.
[22] He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
[23] He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
[24] He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
[25] They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.