12:1 And Job answered and said:

12:2 No doubt but ye [are] the people, and wisdom shall die with you:

12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I [am] not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these:

12:4 I am [as] one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright [man is] laughed to scorn:

12:5 He that is ready to slip with [his] feet [is as] a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease:

12:6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth:

12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:

12:9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this:

12:10 In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind:

12:11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat:

12:12 With the ancient [is] wisdom; and in length of days understanding:

12:13 With him [is] wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding:

12:14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening:

12:15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth:

12:16 With him [is] strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver [are] his:

12:17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools:

12:18 He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle:

12:19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty:

12:20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged:

12:21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty:

12:22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death:

12:23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them:

12:24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way:

12:25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like [a] drunken: