1Then Job answered and said:2“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? (Job 13:2; Job 15:9; Job 16:2)4I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. (Job 16:10; Job 17:2; Job 17:6; Job 21:3; Job 30:1; Ps 91:15)5In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. (Job 3:18)6The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.[1] (Job 21:7)7“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;8or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;[2] and the fish of the sea will declare to you.9Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? (Job 1:21; Isa 41:20)10In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. (Nu 16:22; Da 5:23; Ac 17:28)11Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? (Job 34:3)12Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. (Job 32:7; Ps 119:100)13“With God[3] are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. (Job 9:4; Job 36:5)14If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. (Job 11:10; Isa 22:22; Re 3:7)15If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. (Ge 7:11; De 11:17; 1Ki 8:35; 1Ki 17:1; Ps 147:18; Am 9:6)16With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. (Job 5:12)17He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. (2Sa 17:23; Job 9:24; Isa 29:14; Isa 40:23; Isa 44:25; 1Co 1:19)18He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. (Ps 116:16)19He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.20He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. (Job 32:9)21He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. (Ps 107:40)22He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light. (Job 3:5; Da 2:22; 1Co 4:5)23He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. (2Ki 18:11; Isa 9:3; Isa 26:15)24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. (Job 6:18; Ps 107:40)25They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. (Job 5:14; Ps 107:27; Isa 19:14)