Job’s Reply
1Job replied,
2“You people think you are the only ones who matter!
You are sure that wisdom will die with you!
3But I have a brain, just like you.
I’m as clever as you are.
In fact, everyone knows as much as you do.
4“My friends laugh at me all the time,
even though I called out to God and he answered.
My friends laugh at me,
even though I’m honest and right.
5People who have an easy life look down on those who have problems.
They think trouble comes only to those whose feet are slipping.
6Why doesn’t anyone bother the tents of robbers?
Why do those who make God angry remain secure?
They are in God’s hands!
7“But ask the animals what God does.
They will teach you.
Or ask the birds in the sky.
They will tell you.
8Or speak to the earth. It will teach you.
Or let the fish in the ocean educate you.
9Are there any of these creatures that don’t know
what the powerful hand of the Lord has done?
10He holds the life of every creature in his hand.
He controls the breath of every human being.
11Our tongues tell us what tastes good and what doesn’t.
And our ears tell us what’s true and what isn’t.
12Old people are wise.
Those who live a long time have understanding.
13“Wisdom and power belong to God.
Advice and understanding also belong to him.
14What he tears down can’t be rebuilt.
The people he puts in prison can’t be set free.
15If he holds back the water, everything dries up.
If he lets the water loose, it floods the land.
16Strength and understanding belong to him.
Those who tell lies and those who believe them also belong to him.
17He removes the wisdom of rulers and leads them away.
He makes judges look foolish.
18He sets people free from the chains that kings put on them.
Then he dresses the kings in the clothes of slaves.
19He removes the authority of priests and leads them away.
He removes from their positions
officials who have been in control for a long time.
20He shuts the mouths of trusted advisers.
He takes away the understanding of elders.
21He looks down on proud leaders.
He takes away the strength of those who are mighty.
22He tells people the secrets of darkness.
He brings total darkness out into the light.
23He makes nations great, and then he destroys them.
He makes nations grow, and then he scatters them.
24He takes away the understanding of the leaders of the earth.
He makes them wander in a desert where no one lives.
25Without any light, they feel their way along in darkness.
God makes them unsteady like those who get drunk.
Job
1Then Job replied:
2‘Doubtless you are the only people who matter,
and wisdom will die with you!
3But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?
4‘I have become a laughing-stock to my friends,
though I called on God and he answered –
a mere laughing-stock, though righteous and blameless!
5Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
6The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and those who provoke God are secure –
those whom God has in his hand.12:6 Or those whose god is in their own hand
7‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.
11Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?
12Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
13‘To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
those he imprisons cannot be released.
15If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
16To him belong strength and insight;
both deceived and deceiver are his.
17He leads rulers away stripped
and makes fools of judges.
18He takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth12:18 Or shackles of kings / and ties a belt round their waist.
19He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows officials long established.
20He silences the lips of trusted advisors
and takes away the discernment of elders.
21He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.
22He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings utter darkness into the light.
23He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
24He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25They grope in darkness with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.
