12:1 Then Job answered and said: 12:2 "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these 12:4 I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. 12:5 In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. 12:6 The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. 12:7 "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; 12:8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. 12:9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this 12:10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. 12:11 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food 12:12 Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. 12:13 "With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. 12:14 If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. 12:15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. 12:16 With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. 12:17 He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. 12:18 He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. 12:19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. 12:20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. 12:21 He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. 12:22 He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. 12:23 He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. 12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste. 12:25 They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.