Then Job answered and said,
No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
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.
In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
The tents of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke God are secure;
{Or, That bring their god to their hand}Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee;
And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee:
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee;
And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Who knoweth not {Or, by}in all these,
That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this,
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the {Or, spirit}breath of all mankind?
Doth not the ear try words,
Even as the palate tasteth its food?
{Or, With aged men, ye say, is wisdom}With aged men is wisdom,
And in length of days understanding.
With {Hebrew: him.}God is wisdom and might;
He hath counsel and understanding.
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again;
He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up;
Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
With him is strength and wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
He leadeth counsellors away stripped,
And judges maketh he fools.
He looseth the bond of kings,
And he bindeth their loins with a girdle.
He leadeth priests away stripped,
And overthroweth the mighty.
He removeth the speech of the trusty,
And taketh away the understanding of the elders.
He poureth contempt upon princes,
And looseth the belt of the strong.
He uncovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them:
He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive.
He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the {Or, land}earth,
And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
They grope in the dark without light;
And he maketh them to {Hebrew: wander.}stagger like a drunken man.
Querverweise zu Hiob 12,3 Hiob 12,3
What ye know, the same do I know also:I am not inferior unto you.
Surely I would speak to the Almighty,And I desire to reason with God.
But ye are forgers of lies;Ye are all physicians of no value.
Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace!And it would be your wisdom.
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?Or is there any taste in {Or, the juice of purslain}the white of an egg?
Answer not a fool according to his folly,Lest thou also be like unto him.
{Or, What things my soul refused to touch, these are as my loathsome food}My soul refuseth to touch them;They are as loathsome food to me.
For I reckon that I am not a whit behind {Or, those preeminent apostles}the very chiefest apostles.
How hast thou helped him that is without power!How hast thou saved the arm that hath no strength!
I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom,And plentifully declared sound knowledge!