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[1]Then Job answered and said:
[2]Truly you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!
[3]But I have a heart as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
[4]I am one as a laughingstock to his friends; one who called upon God, and He answered him; the just and whole one is a laughingstock.
[5]A lamp is despised in the thoughts of one who is at ease; it is made ready for those whose feet slip.
[6]The tents of plunderers prosper, and those who provoke the Mighty God are secure, as God brings into his hand.
[7]But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
[8]or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea shall recount to you.
[9]Who among all these does not know that the hand of Jehovah has done this,
[10]in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all the flesh of mankind?
[11]Does not the ear test words and the mouth taste its food?
[12]Wisdom is with old men, and with length of days is understanding.
[13]With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding.
[14]Behold, He breaks down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
[15]Behold, He withholds the waters, and they dry up; He sends them out, and they transform the earth.
[16]With Him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His.
[17]He causes counselors to walk away barefoot, and makes fools of the judges.
[18]He loosens the bonds of kings, and binds their loins with a waistband.
[19]He causes the priests to walk away barefoot, and overthrows the mighty.
[20]He removes the lips of the trusted ones, and takes away the discretion of the elders.
[21]He pours contempt upon nobles, and drops the girdle off hollow bones.
[22]He reveals deep dark mysteries, and brings out the deep darkness into the light of day.
[23]He makes nations great, and destroys them; He spreads out nations, and guides them.
[24]He takes away the heart of the heads of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a wilderness with no path.
[25]They grope in the darkness without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunkard.
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