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American Standard Version » Job » Chapter 12
1
Then Job answered and said,
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No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.
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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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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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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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The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].
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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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Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
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Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
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In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
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Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?
12
With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.
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With [God] is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding.
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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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Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
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With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.
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He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools.
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He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
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He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty.
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He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
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He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong.
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He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
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He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
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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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They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.