Job 12 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Then Job answered:
1 Then Job answered,
2 “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!
2 “No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
4 I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
5 The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6 The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.
6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands.
7 But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.
7 “But ask the animals now, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
9 Who doesn’t know that in all these, Yahweh’s hand has done this,
10 The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?
11 Doesn’t the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
12 Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.
12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
13 Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.
13 “With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
14 What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.
15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
18 He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.
18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.
19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
20 He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.
25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 2 Isaiah 5:21; Job 17:4; Job 17:10; Job 8:8–10; Job 11:12
- 3 Job 13:2–5; 2 Corinthians 11:21–23; Proverbs 26:4; 2 Corinthians 11:5; Job 6:6–7
- 4 Job 30:1; Job 21:3; Psalm 91:15; Job 17:6; Psalm 22:7–8
- 5 Psalm 17:5; Proverbs 13:9; Matthew 25:8; Amos 6:1–6; Psalm 123:3–4
- 6 Job 9:24; Psalm 73:11–12; Psalm 37:35; Psalm 17:14; Job 21:7–15
- 7 Isaiah 1:3; Jeremiah 8:7; Proverbs 6:6; Job 21:29–30
- 9 Isaiah 41:20; Jeremiah 27:5–6; Romans 11:36; Acts 19:35; 1 Samuel 2:7
- 10 Acts 17:28; Job 33:4; Acts 17:25; Numbers 16:22; Job 27:3
- 11 Job 34:3; Hebrews 5:14; Job 6:30; 1 Peter 2:3; Philippians 1:10
- 12 Job 32:7; Job 15:10; Job 8:8
- 13 Job 36:5; Job 9:4; Proverbs 2:6–7; James 1:5; Job 28:20–28
- 14 Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7; Malachi 1:4; Job 11:10; Job 37:7
- 15 1 Kings 17:1; Amos 5:8; Genesis 6:17; James 5:17–18; Genesis 6:13
- 16 Job 13:9; Job 12:13; Ezekiel 14:9; 1 Kings 22:22–23; Matthew 6:13
- 17 Isaiah 29:14; 1 Corinthians 1:19–20; 2 Samuel 17:23; 2 Samuel 17:14; Job 9:24
- 18 Daniel 2:21; Psalm 116:16; Jeremiah 52:31–34; 2 Chronicles 33:11–14; Revelation 19:16
- 19 Isaiah 45:1; Isaiah 37:36–38; Job 35:9; Joshua 10:24; Revelation 19:19–21
- 20 Job 32:9; Job 17:4; Job 12:24; Proverbs 10:21; Job 39:17
- 21 Psalm 107:40; 1 Kings 21:23–24; Ephesians 6:10; Acts 12:23; Exodus 16:24
- 22 Daniel 2:22; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Job 3:5; Luke 1:79
- 23 Isaiah 9:3; Isaiah 26:15; Isaiah 60:22; Psalm 107:38; Jeremiah 33:22
- 24 Psalm 107:40; Job 12:20; Hosea 7:11; Isaiah 19:1; Daniel 4:16
- 25 Job 5:14; Psalm 107:27; Isaiah 24:20; Isaiah 19:14; Deuteronomy 28:29
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Speak to the earth, if perchance it may teach thee: and though thou inquire of all things which are upon the earth, they shall not be able to tell thee.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)