Job 12

NASB

Job 12

Job Chides His Accusers

^{Tools
1} Then Job ^(a)responded,

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“Truly then ^(A)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!

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“But ^(B)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And ^(b)who does not know such things as these?

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“I am a ^(C)joke to ^(c)my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and ^(D)blameless man is a joke.

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“^(d)He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.

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“The ^(E)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God ^(F)are secure,
^(e)Whom God brings ^(G)into their power.

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“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.

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“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

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“Who among all these does not know
That ^(H)the hand of the Lord has done this,

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^(I)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And ^(J)the breath of all mankind?

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“Does not ^(K)the ear test words,
As the palate ^(f)tastes its food?

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“Wisdom is with ^(L)aged men,
With ^(g)long life is understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

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“With Him are ^(M)wisdom and ^(N)might;
To Him belong counsel and ^(O)understanding.

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“Behold, He ^(P)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He ^(h)^(Q)imprisons a man, and ⁽ⁱ⁾there can be no release.

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“Behold, He ^(R)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He ^(S)sends them out, and they ^(j)inundate the earth.

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“With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The ^(T)misled and the misleader belong to Him.

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“He makes ^(U)counselors walk ^(k)barefoot
And makes fools of ^(V)judges.

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“He ^(W)loosens the ^(l)bond of kings
And binds their loins with a girdle.

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“He makes priests walk ^(m)barefoot
And overthrows ^(X)the secure ones.

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“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And ^(Y)takes away the discernment of the elders.

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“He ^(Z)pours contempt on nobles
And ^(AA)loosens the belt of the strong.

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“He ^(AB)reveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings the deep darkness into light.

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“He ^(AC)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He ⁽ⁿ⁾enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

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“He ^(AD)deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

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“They ^(AE)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them ^(AF)stagger like a drunken man.

Footnotes:

a. Job 12:1: ['Lit ', answered and said]

b. Job 12:3: ['Lit ', with whom is there not like these, '?']

c. Job 12:4: ['Lit ', his]

d. Job 12:5: ['Lit ', Contempt for calamity is the thought of him who is at ease]

e. Job 12:6: ['Or ', He who brings God into his hand]

f. Job 12:11: ['Lit ', tastes food for itself]

g. Job 12:12: ['Lit ', length of days]

h. Job 12:14: ['Lit ', shuts against]

i. Job 12:14: ['Lit ', it is not opened]

j. Job 12:15: ['Lit ', overturn]

k. Job 12:17: ['Or ', stripped]

l. Job 12:18: ['Or ', discipline]

m. Job 12:19: ['Or ', stripped]

n. Job 12:23: ['Or ', spreads out]

Cross references:

A. Job 12:2: Job 17:10

B. Job 12:3: Job 13:2

C. Job 12:4: Job 17:6; Job 30:1; Job 30:9; Job 30:10; Job 34:7

D. Job 12:4: Job 6:29

E. Job 12:6: Job 9:24; Job 21:7-9

F. Job 12:6: Job 24:23

G. Job 12:6: Job 22:18

H. Job 12:9: Isaiah 41:20

I. Job 12:10: Acts 17:28

J. Job 12:10: Job 27:3; Job 33:4

K. Job 12:11: Job 34:3

L. Job 12:12: Job 15:10; Job 32:7

M. Job 12:13: Job 9:4

N. Job 12:13: Job 9:4

O. Job 12:13: Job 11:6; Job 26:12; Job 32:8; Job 36:5; Job 38:36

P. Job 12:14: Job 19:10; Isaiah 25:2

Q. Job 12:14: Job 37:7

R. Job 12:15: Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 17:1

S. Job 12:15: Genesis 7:11-24

T. Job 12:16: Job 13:7; Job 13:9

U. Job 12:17: Job 3:14

V. Job 12:17: Job 9:24

W. Job 12:18: Psalm 116:16

X. Job 12:19: Job 24:22; Job 34:24-28; Job 35:9

Y. Job 12:20: Job 17:4; Job 32:9

Z. Job 12:21: Job 34:19; Psalm 107:40

AA. Job 12:21: Job 12:18

AB. Job 12:22: Daniel 2:22; 1 Corinthians 4:5

AC. Job 12:23: Isaiah 9:3; Isaiah 26:15

AD. Job 12:24: Job 12:20

AE. Job 12:25: Job 5:14

AF. Job 12:25: Isaiah 24:20