1. And Job answered and said:
2. For truly you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3. I also have a heart as well as you; I do not fall short of you. And with whom are not things like these?
4. I am a laughingstock to his friend; he calls on God, and He answers him; the just, the upright one is a mockery;
5. a torch is despised in the thoughts of him who feels secure; it is ready for those with slipping feet.
6. The tents of plunderers and those provoking God are at ease, to whomever God brings into his hand.
7. But now please ask the animals, 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 recount to you;
9. who of all these does not know that Jehovah's hand has done this,
10. in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh, even of man?
11. Does the ear not try words, and the mouth taste food for itself?
12. With the aged is wisdom, and understanding is in the length of days.
13. With Him is wisdom and strength; He has forethought and understanding.
14. Behold, He breaks down, and no one builds; He shuts against a man, and no one opens.
15. Behold, He holds back the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they overflow the earth.
16. With Him is strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17. He causes wise men to go stripped; and He makes judges fools.
18. He loosens the bonds of kings, and He binds their loins with a girdle;
19. making priests walk away stripped; and He overthrows the mighty;
20. turning aside the lip of the trusted men; and He takes away the reason of the aged.
21. He pours scorn on nobles, and He loosens the girdle of the mighty;
22. revealing deep things out of darkness; and He brings the shadow of death to light.
23. He gives greatness to the nations, and He destroys them; spreading out the nations, and He leads them out.
24. He takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the land; and He causes them to wander in a waste in which is no path.
25. They grope in the dark, and there is no light; and He makes them stagger like a drunkard.