Job 12 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Then Job answered and said,
1 Then Job answered,
2 “No doubt you are the people; wisdom will die with you.
2 “No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, 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 something for my neighbor to laugh at— I, one who called on God and who was answered by him! I, a just and blameless man—I am now something to laugh at.
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 In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune; he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is 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 prosper, and those who provoke God feel secure; their own hands are their gods.
6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their god in their hands.
7 But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the heavens, 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; the fish of the sea will declare to you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you. The fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Which animal among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this?
9 Who doesn’t know that in all these, Yahweh’s hand has done this,
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and 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 just as the palate tastes its food?
11 Doesn’t the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom; in length of days is understanding.
12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
13 With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
13 “With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
14 See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again; if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.
14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can’t be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up; and if he sends them out, 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 With him are strength and wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.
16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow; he turns judges into fools.
17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
18 He takes off the chain of authority from kings; he wraps a cloth about their waists.
18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
19 He leads priests away barefoot in sorrow and overthrows mighty people.
19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes the speech of those who had been trusted and takes away the understanding of the elders.
20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours contempt upon princes and unfastens the belt of strong people.
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 the light.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them; He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth; he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
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 dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunk man.
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)