^[1]  Then Job answered and said,

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^[2]  No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.

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^[3]  But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

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^[4]  I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

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^[5]  In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

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^[6]  The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

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^[7]  But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:

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^[8]  Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

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^[9]  Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,

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^[10]  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?

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^[11]  Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?

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^[12]  With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.

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^[13]  WithGodis wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.

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^[14]  Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

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^[15]  Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

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^[16]  With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.

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^[17]  He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.

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^[18]  He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.

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^[19]  He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.

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^[20]  He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.

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^[21]  He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.

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^[22]  He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

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^[23]  He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.

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^[24]  He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

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^[25]  They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

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