1 | Then Job, answering, said: |
2 | Are you, therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you? |
3 | And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which you know? |
4 | He who is mocked by his friends as I am, will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the sincerity of the just that is being mocked. |
5 | The lamp that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the appointed time. |
6 | The tabernacles of robbers are numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he who has given all things into their hands. |
7 | In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you. |
8 | Speak with the earth, and it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain. |
9 | Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made all these things? |
10 | In his hand is the soul of all the living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind. |
11 | Does not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating, perceive flavor? |
12 | In old age is wisdom, and in length of days is prudence. |
13 | With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding. |
14 | If he tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a man, there is no one who can open. |
15 | If he restrains the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth, they will subdue the land. |
16 | With him is strength and wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived. |
17 | He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to stupidity. |
18 | He removes the belt of kings and encircles their waist with a rope. |
19 | He leads away priests in dishonor and displaces nobles, |
20 | altering the lips of those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of the aged. |
21 | He pours distain upon the leaders, relieving those who had been oppressed. |
22 | He reveals the depths of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the light. |
23 | He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and, having been overthrown, he restores them anew. |
24 | He transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and misleads those who in vain |
25 | They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and he will make them stagger like drunkards. |