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Job 12
Good News Translation
Job 12
Good News Translation
12 1-2 Yes, you are the voice of the people.
When you die, wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have as much sense as you have;
I am in no way inferior to you;
everyone knows all that you have said.
4 Even my friends laugh at me now;
they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless;
but there was a time when God answered my prayers.
5 You have no troubles, and yet you make fun of me;
you hit someone who is about to fall.
6 But thieves and godless people live in peace,
though their only god is their own strength.
7 Even birds and animals have much they could teach you;
8 ask the creatures of earth and sea for their wisdom.
9 All of them know that the Lord's hand made them.
10 It is God who directs the lives of his creatures;
everyone's life is in his power.
11 But just as your tongue enjoys tasting food,
your ears enjoy hearing words.
12-13 Old people have wisdom,
but God has wisdom and power.
Old people have insight;
God has insight and power to act.
14 When God tears down, who can rebuild,
and who can free those God imprisons?
15 Drought comes when God withholds rain;
floods come when he turns water loose.
16 God is strong and always victorious;
both deceived and deceiver are in his power.
17 He takes away the wisdom of rulers
and makes leaders act like fools.
18 He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners;
19 he humbles priests and men of power.
20 He silences those who are trusted,
and takes the wisdom of old people away.
21 He disgraces those in power
and puts an end to the strength of rulers.
22 He sends light to places dark as death.
23 He makes nations strong and great,
but then he defeats and destroys them.
24 He makes their leaders foolish
and lets them wander confused and lost;
25 they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.
Job 12
New International Version
Job 12
New International Version
Job
12 Then Job replied:
2 “Doubtless you are the only people who matter,
and wisdom will die with you!(A)
3 But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?(B)
4 “I have become a laughingstock(C) to my friends,(D)
though I called on God and he answered(E)—
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!(F)
5 Those who are at ease have contempt(G) for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.(H)
6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed,(I)
and those who provoke God are secure(J)—
those God has in his hand.[a]
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,(K)
or the birds in the sky,(L) and they will tell you;(M)
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know(N)
that the hand of the Lord has done this?(O)
10 In his hand is the life(P) of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.(Q)
11 Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?(R)
12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?(S)
Does not long life bring understanding?(T)
13 “To God belong wisdom(U) and power;(V)
counsel and understanding are his.(W)
14 What he tears down(X) cannot be rebuilt;(Y)
those he imprisons cannot be released.(Z)
15 If he holds back the waters,(AA) there is drought;(AB)
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.(AC)
16 To him belong strength and insight;(AD)
both deceived and deceiver are his.(AE)
17 He leads rulers away stripped(AF)
and makes fools of judges.(AG)
18 He takes off the shackles(AH) put on by kings
and ties a loincloth[b] around their waist.(AI)
19 He leads priests away stripped(AJ)
and overthrows officials long established.(AK)
20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.(AL)
21 He pours contempt on nobles(AM)
and disarms the mighty.(AN)
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness(AO)
and brings utter darkness(AP) into the light.(AQ)
23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;(AR)
he enlarges nations,(AS) and disperses them.(AT)
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;(AU)
he makes them wander in a trackless waste.(AV)
25 They grope in darkness with no light;(AW)
he makes them stagger like drunkards.(AX)
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.