1 Then Job, answering, said: 2 Are you, therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you? 3 And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which you know? 4 He who is mocked by his friends as I am, will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the sincerity of the just that is being mocked. 5 The lamp that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the appointed time. 6 The tabernacles of robbers are numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he who has given all things into their hands. 7 In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you. 8 Speak with the earth, and it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain. 9 Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made all these things? 10 In his hand is the soul of all the living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind. 11 Does not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating, perceive flavor? 12 In old age is wisdom, and in length of days is prudence. 13 With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding. 14 If he tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a man, there is no one who can open. 15 If he restrains the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth, they will subdue the land. 16 With him is strength and wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived. 17 He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to stupidity. 18 He removes the belt of kings and encircles their waist with a rope. 19 He leads away priests in dishonor and displaces nobles, 20 altering the lips of those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of the aged. 21 He pours disdain upon the leaders, relieving those who had been oppressed. 22 He reveals the depths of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the light. 23 He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and, having been overthrown, he restores them anew. 24 He transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and misleads those who in vain advance upon the inviolable. 25 They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and he will make them stagger like drunkards.
Job · Catholic Public Domain Version
Job 12 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
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)