And Job answered and said:
2For truly you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3I also have a heart as well as you; I do not fall short of you. And with whom are not things like these?
4I am a laughingstock to his friend; he calls on God, and He answers him; the just, the upright one is a mockery;
5a torch is despised in the thoughts of him who feels secure; it is ready for those with slipping feet.
6The tents of plunderers and those provoking God are at ease, to whomever God brings into his hand.
7But now please ask the animals, and they will teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will recount to you;
9who of all these does not know that Jehovah's hand has done this,
10in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh, even of man?
11Does the ear not try words, and the mouth taste food for itself?
12With the aged is wisdom, and understanding is in the length of days.
13With Him is wisdom and strength; He has forethought and understanding.
14Behold, He breaks down, and no one builds; He shuts against a man, and no one opens.
15Behold, He holds back the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they overflow the earth.
16With Him is strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17He causes wise men to go stripped; and He makes judges fools.
18He loosens the bonds of kings, and He binds their loins with a girdle;
19making priests walk away stripped; and He overthrows the mighty;
20turning aside the lip of the trusted men; and He takes away the reason of the aged.
21He pours scorn on nobles, and He loosens the girdle of the mighty;
22revealing deep things out of darkness; and He brings the shadow of death to light.
23He gives greatness to the nations, and He destroys them; spreading out the nations, and He leads them out.
24He takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the land; and He causes them to wander in a waste in which is no path.
25They grope in the dark, and there is no light; and He makes them stagger like a drunkard.