Parallel
Job 12
World English Bible British Edition · Berean Standard Bible
“No doubt, but you are the people,
“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!
But I have understanding as well as you;
But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
I am like one who is a joke to his neighbour,
I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune.
The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
The tents of robbers prosper.
The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands (note: Or though God keeps them in His power).
“But ask the animals now, and they will teach you;
But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.
Who doesn’t know that in all these,
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
in whose hand is the life of every living thing,
The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
With aged men is wisdom,
Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
“With God is wisdom and might.
Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.
Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again.
What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up.
If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.
With him is strength and wisdom.
True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
He leads counsellors away stripped.
He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
He loosens the bond of kings.
He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.
He leads priests away stripped,
He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.
He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.
He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,
He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
They grope in the dark without light.
They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.