New American Standard Bible 1995

Job 12:7-25

7“But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.8Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you.9Who among all these does not know That 1the hand of the Lord has done this,10 2In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And 3the breath of all mankind?11Does not 4the ear test words, As the palate 5tastes its food?12Wisdom is with 6aged men, With 7long life is understanding.

13“With Him are 8wisdom and 9might; To Him belong counsel and 10understanding.14Behold, He 11tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He 12 13imprisons a man, and 14there can be no release.15Behold, He 15restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He 16sends them out, and they 17inundate the earth.16With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The 18misled and the misleader belong to Him.17He makes 19counselors walk 20barefoot And makes fools of 21judges.18He 22loosens the 23bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle.19He makes priests walk 24barefoot And overthrows 25the secure ones.20He deprives the trusted ones of speech And 26takes away the discernment of the elders.21He 27pours contempt on nobles And 28loosens the belt of the strong.22He 29reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light.23He 30makes the nations great, then destroys them; He 31enlarges the nations, then leads them away.24He 32deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people And makes them wander in a pathless waste.25They 33grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them 34stagger like a drunken man.

Read all of Job 12

Notes

1. Job 12:9 Is 41:20 ↩
2. Job 12:10 Acts 17:28 ↩
3. Job 12:10 Job 27:3; 33:4 ↩
4. Job 12:11 Job 34:3 ↩
5. Job 12:11 Lit tastes food for itself ↩
6. Job 12:12 Job 15:10; 32:7 ↩
7. Job 12:12 Lit length of days ↩
8. Job 12:13 Job 9:4 ↩
9. Job 12:13 Job 9:4 ↩
10. Job 12:13 Job 11:6; 26:12; 32:8; 36:5; 38:36 ↩
11. Job 12:14 Job 19:10; Is 25:2 ↩
12. Job 12:14 Lit shuts against ↩
13. Job 12:14 Job 37:7 ↩
14. Job 12:14 Lit it is not opened ↩
15. Job 12:15 Deut 11:17; 1 Kin 8:35; 17:1 ↩
16. Job 12:15 Gen 7:11-24 ↩
17. Job 12:15 Lit overturn ↩
18. Job 12:16 Job 13:7, 9 ↩
19. Job 12:17 Job 3:14 ↩
20. Job 12:17 Or stripped ↩
21. Job 12:17 Job 9:24 ↩
22. Job 12:18 Ps 116:16 ↩
23. Job 12:18 Or discipline ↩
24. Job 12:19 Or stripped ↩
25. Job 12:19 Job 24:22; 34:24-28; 35:9 ↩
26. Job 12:20 Job 17:4; 32:9 ↩
27. Job 12:21 Job 34:19; Ps 107:40 ↩
28. Job 12:21 Job 12:18 ↩
29. Job 12:22 Dan 2:22; 1 Cor 4:5 ↩
30. Job 12:23 Is 9:3; 26:15 ↩
31. Job 12:23 Or spreads out ↩
32. Job 12:24 Job 12:20 ↩
33. Job 12:25 Job 5:14 ↩
34. Job 12:25 Is 24:20 ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Job 12