1 Then Job answered and said,
2 No doubt but you{+} are the people, And wisdom will die with you{+}.
3 But I have understanding as well as you{+}; I am not inferior to you{+}: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
4 I am as one who is a laughingstock to his fellow man, I who called on God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughingstock.
5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6 The tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God brings [abundantly].
7 But ask now the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you:
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who doesn't know in all these, That the hand of Yahweh has wrought this,
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear try words, Even as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.
13 With [God] is wisdom and might; He has counsel and understanding.
14 Look, he breaks down, and it can't be built again; He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Look, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away stripped, And judges he makes fools.
18 He looses the authority of kings, And he binds their loins with a belt.
19 He leads priests away stripped, And overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes the speech of the trusty, And takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours contempt on princes, And looses the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them: He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light; And he makes them to stagger like a drunk man.