[1] Then Job answered:
[2] “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!
[3] But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
[4] I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
[5] The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
[6] The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.
[7] But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
[8] Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.
[9] Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
[10] The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
[11] Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?
[12] Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
[13] Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.
[14] What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
[15] If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.
[16] True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
[17] He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
[18] He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.
[19] He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.
[20] He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
[21] He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
[22] He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
[23] He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.
[24] He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
[25] They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.