> [[job-11|← Previous]] | [[job-00|TOC]] | [[job-13|Next →]] --- # Job, Chapter 12 ## Chapter 12 **Job’s Third Reply.** 1 Then Job answered and said: ^job-12-1 2 No doubt you are the people ^job-12-2 with whom wisdom shall die! 3 But I have intelligence as well as you; ^job-12-3 I do not fall short of you; for who does not know such things as these? 4 I have become the sport of my neighbors: ^job-12-4 “The one whom God answers when he calls upon him, The just, the perfect man,” is a laughingstock; 5 The undisturbed esteem my downfall a disgrace ^job-12-5 such as awaits unsteady feet; 6 Yet the tents of robbers are prosperous, ^job-12-6 and those who provoke God are secure, whom God has in his power. 7 But now ask the beasts to teach you, ^job-12-7 the birds of the air to tell you; 8 Or speak to the earth to instruct you, ^job-12-8 and the fish of the sea to inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know ^job-12-9 that the hand of God has done this? 10 In his hand is the soul of every living thing, ^job-12-10 and the life breath of all mortal flesh. 11 Does not the ear judge words ^job-12-11 as the mouth tastes food? 12 So with old age is wisdom, ^job-12-12 and with length of days understanding. 13 With him are wisdom and might; ^job-12-13 his are counsel and understanding. 14 If he knocks a thing down, there is no rebuilding; ^job-12-14 if he imprisons, there is no release. 15 He holds back the waters and there is drought; ^job-12-15 he sends them forth and they overwhelm the land. 16 With him are strength and prudence; ^job-12-16 the misled and the misleaders are his. 17 He sends counselors away barefoot, ^job-12-17 makes fools of judges. 18 He loosens the belt of kings, ^job-12-18 ties a waistcloth on their loins. 19 He sends priests away barefoot, ^job-12-19 leads the powerful astray. 20 He silences the trusted adviser, ^job-12-20 takes discretion from the elders. 21 He pours shame on nobles, ^job-12-21 the waistband of the strong he loosens. 22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness, ^job-12-22 brings the gloom into the light. 23 He makes nations great and destroys them, ^job-12-23 spreads peoples abroad and abandons them. 24 He takes understanding from the leaders of the land, ^job-12-24 makes them wander in a pathless desert. 25 They grope in the darkness without light; ^job-12-25 he makes them wander like drunkards. --- \* (12:1) Job begins his third and longest speech to the friends with sarcasm, and eventually he accuses them of falsehood ([13:4] – [11]). The dialogue between them becomes increasingly sharp. With the appeal to learning from beasts and birds ([12:7]), Job launches into what seems to be a bitter parody of the power of God. \* (12:4] – [5) The Hebrew is somewhat obscure, but the general sense is that the wicked mock the pious when the latter appear to be abandoned by God; cf. ([[psalm-22|Ps 22]]:7] – [9]; ([[matthew-27|Mt 27]]:39] – [43]. \* (12:6) Whom God has in his power: the Hebrew is obscure. The line may be a scribal error; some of the phrases occur in vv. [9], [10]. \* (12:18) He reduces kings to the condition of slaves, who wear only a cloth wrapped about the waist. --- a. (12:3) [Jb 13:2]; [15:9]. b. (12:4) [Jb 21:3]; [30:1]. c. (12:10) ([[acts-of-the-apostles-17|Acts 17]]:28]. d. (12:11) [Jb 34:3]. e. (12:12) [Jb 32:7]. f. (12:14) [Jer 1:10]; ([[revelation-03|Rv 3]]:7]. g. (12:15) [Gn 7:11] – [24]. h. (12:21) [Ps 107:40]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[job-11|← Previous]] | [[job-00|TOC]] | [[job-13|Next →]]