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 12,20 Hiob 12,20
The lips of the righteous feed many;But the foolish die for lack of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
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.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever;But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
For thou hast hid their heart from understanding:Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah;But they that deal truly are his delight.
It is not the great that are wise,Nor the aged that understand justice.
Because God hath {Hebrew: made her to forget wisdom.}deprived her of wisdom,Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water;
the mighty man, and the man of war; the judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder;
the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the expert {Or, charmer}artificer, and the skilful enchanter.