1 Then Job answered and said,

2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who does not know such things as these?

4 I am as a man who is a laughing-stock to his neighbor. I who called upon God, and he answered. The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for calamity. It is ready for those 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 shall teach thee, and the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee.

8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare to thee.

9 Who does not know in all these, that the hand of Jehovah 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 Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again. He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.

15 Behold, 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 he makes judges fools.

18 He loosens the bond 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 trustworthy, and takes away the understanding of the elders.

21 He pours contempt upon rulers, and weakens the strength 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 drunken man.