Capítulo 12

1 - Then Job replied:

2 - "Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you!

3 - But 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 laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered - a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

5 - Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

6 - The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure - those God has in his hand. 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;

8 - or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.

9 - Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?

10 - In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

11 - Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?

12 - Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?

13 - "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

14 - What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released.

15 - If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16 - To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his.

17 - He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges.

18 - He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth Or [shackles of kings / and ties a belt] around their waist.

19 - He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established.

20 - He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.

21 - He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

22 - He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light.

23 - He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

24 - He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25 - They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.