Job 11-12

American Standard Version

² Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should a man full of talk be justified?
³ Should thy boastings make men hold their peace?
And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
⁴ For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure,
And I am clean in thine eyes.
⁵ But oh that God would speak,
And open his lips against thee,
⁶ And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom!
For he is manifold in understanding.
Know therefore that God ^[a]exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

^7 [b]Canst thou by searching find out God?
Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
^8 [c]It is high as heaven; what canst thou do?
Deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
⁹ The measure thereof is longer than the earth,
And broader than the sea.
¹⁰ If he pass through, and shut up,
And ^[d]all unto judgment, then who can hinder him?
¹¹ For he knoweth false men:
He seeth iniquity also, ^[e]even though he consider it not.
^12 [f]But vain man is void of understanding,
Yea, man is born as a wild ass’s colt.

¹³ If thou set thy heart aright,
And stretch out thy hands toward him;
¹⁴ If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away,
And let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents.
¹⁵ Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot;
Yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
¹⁶ For thou shalt forget thy misery;
Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away,
¹⁷ And thy life shall ^[g]be clearer than the noonday;
Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
¹⁸ And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope;
Yea, thou shalt search about thee, and shalt take thy rest in safety.
¹⁹ Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid;
Yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,
And ^[h]they shall have no way to flee;
And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.

² No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
³ But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
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.
⁵ In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
⁶ The tents of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke God are secure;
^[i]Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

⁷ But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
⁸ Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee;
And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
⁹ Who knoweth not ^[j]in all these,
That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
¹⁰ In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the ^[k]breath of all mankind?
¹¹ Doth not the ear try words,
Even as the palate tasteth its food?
^12 [l]With aged men is wisdom,
And in length of days understanding.

¹³ With ^[m]God is wisdom and might;
He hath counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again;
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
¹⁵ Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up;
Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leadeth counsellors away stripped,
And judges maketh he fools.
¹⁸ He looseth the bond of kings,
And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
¹⁹ He leadeth priests away stripped,
And overthroweth the mighty.
²⁰ He removeth the speech of the trusty,
And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
²¹ He poureth contempt upon princes,
And looseth the belt of the strong.
²² He uncovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
²³ He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them:
He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
²⁴ He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the ^[n]earth,
And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
²⁵ They grope in the dark without light;
And he maketh them to ^[o]stagger like a drunken man.