[1] Then Job answered ˻them˼:
[2] “I’m sure you think you are the only wise people. You think when you die, wisdom will be gone with you.
[3] But my mind is as good as yours. I am as smart as you are. Anyone can see this is true.
[4] “My friends laugh at me now. They say, 'He prayed to God, and he got his answer. ˻That is why all these bad things happened to him.˼’ “I am a good man. I am innocent. But still they laugh at me.
[5] People that don’t have troubles make fun of people who do have them. Those people hit a man when he is down.
[6] But robbers’ tents are not bothered. People who make God angry live in peace, and their own strength is their only god!
[7] “But ask the animals, they will teach you. Or ask the birds of the air, they will tell you.
[8] Or speak to the earth, it will teach you. Or let the fish in the sea tell you their wisdom.
[9] Everyone knows the Lord made those things.
[10] Every animal that lives, and every person that breathes, is under God’s power.
[11] But just like the tongue tastes food, the ears test the words they hear.
[12] ˻We say,˼ 'Wisdom is to be found in old people. Long life brings understanding.’
[13] But wisdom and power belong to God. Good advice and understanding are his.
[14] If God tears down anything, people can’t build it again. If God puts a person in prison, people can’t free the person.
[15] If God holds back the rain, the earth will dry up. If God lets the rain loose, it will flood the earth.
[16] God is strong and always wins. Winners and losers all belong to God!
[17] God strips advisors of their wisdom and makes leaders act like fools.
[18] Kings might put people in prison, but God sets those people free and makes them powerful.
[19] God strips priests of their power and fires the bureaucrats who feel so secure in their jobs.
[20] God makes the trusted advisers be silent. He takes away the wisdom of old people.
[21] God makes leaders not important. He takes power away from rulers.
[22] God knows even the darkest secrets. He sends light into places that are as dark as death.
[23] God makes nations big and powerful, and then he destroys them. He makes nations grow large, then he scatters their people.
[24] God makes leaders foolish. He makes them wander aimlessly through the desert.
[25] Those leaders are like a person feeling his way in the dark. They are like a drunk person who doesn’t know where he is going.”