“But [only] with Him are [perfect] wisdom and might;
He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding.

“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

“He makes [great and scheming] counselors walk barefoot
And makes fools of judges.

“With Him are might and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader are His [and in His power].

“Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;
Again, He sends the waters out, and they overwhelm and devastate the earth.

“He uncovers mysteries [that are difficult to grasp and understand] out of the darkness
And brings black gloom and the shadow of death into light.

“He makes priests walk barefoot,
And He overturns men firmly seated and secure.

“He loosens the bond of kings
And binds their loins with a loincloth.

“He pours contempt on princes and nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].

“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.

“They grope in darkness without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”

“He removes intelligence and understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth
And makes them wander and move blindly in a pathless waste.

“With the aged [you say] is wisdom,
And with long life is understanding.

“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!

“He makes nations great, and He destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and leads them away [captive].

Then Job responded,

“I am a joke to my friends;
I, one whom God answered when he called upon Him—
A just and blameless man is a joke [and laughed to scorn].

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.

“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?

“He who is at ease has contempt for misfortune,
But misfortune is ready [and anxiously waiting] for those whose feet slip.

“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;

In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

Or speak to the earth [with its many forms of life], and it will teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare [this truth] to you.