Common English Bible CEB
English Standard Version ESV
1 Job responded:
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Then Job answered and said:
2 Surely you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
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“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3 I am also intelligent; I'm not inferior to you. Who isn't like these people?
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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
4 I'm a joke to friends who called to God and he answered; the innocent and blameless one is a joke,
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I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
5 a torch of contempt to one who is idle, a fixed point for slipping feet.
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In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.
6 Raiders' tents are prosperous and God's provokers secure, who carry God in their hands.
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The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.
7 But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you, the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
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“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
8 or talk to earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will recount it for you.
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or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Among all these, who hasn't known that the LORD's hand did this?
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Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In whose grasp is the life of every thing, the breath of every person?
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In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
11 Doesn't the ear test words and the palate taste food?
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Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?
12 "In old age is wisdom; understanding in a long life."
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Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.
13 With him are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
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“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears down, it can't be rebuilt; if he ties a person up, he can't be set free.
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If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.
15 If he restricts water, they have drought; if he lets it loose, it overturns the land.
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If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are might and success; the deceiver and the deceived are his.
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With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads advisors away barefoot; makes madmen of judges;
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He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.
18 unties the belt of kings, binds a garment around their loins;
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He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
19 leads priests away barefoot; overthrows the well-established;
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He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
20 silences the talk of trusted people; takes away elders' discernment;
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He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 pours contempt on royalty; loosens the belt of the strong;
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He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 discloses deep secrets of darkness, makes utter darkness enter the light;
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He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.
23 makes nations prominent and destroys them, expands nations and leads them astray;
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He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
24 takes away the power to think from earth's leaders, making them wander in untraveled wastelands.
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He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They feel their way in the dark without light; he makes them stumble like drunks.
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They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible