The Message Bible MSG
World English Bible WEB
1 Job answered:
1
Then Job answered,
2 "I'm sure you speak for all the experts, and when you die there'll be no one left to tell us how to live.
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"No doubt, but you are the people, And wisdom shall die with you.
3 But don't forget that I also have a brain - I don't intend to play second fiddle to you. It doesn't take an expert to know these things.
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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
4 "I'm ridiculed by my friends: 'So that's the man who had conversations with God!' Ridiculed without mercy: 'Look at the man who never did wrong!'
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I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
5 It's easy for the well-to-do to point their fingers in blame, for the well-fixed to pour scorn on the strugglers.
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In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune, It is ready for them whose foot slips.
6 Crooks reside safely in high-security houses, insolent blasphemers live in luxury; they've bought and paid for a god who'll protect them.
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The tents of robbers prosper, Those who provoke God are secure; Who carry their God in their hands.
7 "But ask the animals what they think - let them teach you; let the birds tell you what's going on.
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"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.
8 Put your ear to the earth - learn the basics. Listen - the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
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Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you; The fish of the sea shall declare to you.
9 Isn't it clear that they all know and agree that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand -
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Who doesn't know that in all these, The hand of Yahweh has done this,
10 Every living soul, yes, every breathing creature?
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In whose hand is the life of every living thing, The breath of all mankind?
11 Isn't this all just common sense, as common as the sense of taste?
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Doesn't the ear try words, Even as the palate tastes its food?
12 Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom, that you have to grow old before you understand life?
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With aged men is wisdom, In length of days understanding.
13 "True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for.
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"With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
14 If he tears something down, it's down for good; if he locks people up, they're locked up for good.
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Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 If he holds back the rain, there's a drought; if he lets it loose, there's a flood.
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Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 Strength and success belong to God; both deceived and deceiver must answer to him.
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With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He strips experts of their vaunted credentials, exposes judges as witless fools.
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He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
18 He divests kings of their royal garments, then ties a rag around their waists.
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He loosens the bond of kings, He binds their loins with a belt.
19 He strips priests of their robes, and fires high officials from their jobs.
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He leads priests away stripped, And overthrows the mighty.
20 He forces trusted sages to keep silence, deprives elders of their good sense and wisdom.
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He removes the speech of those who are trusted, And takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He dumps contempt on famous people, disarms the strong and mighty.
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He pours contempt on princes, And loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He shines a spotlight into caves of darkness, hauls deepest darkness into the noonday sun.
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He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He makes nations rise and then fall, builds up some and abandons others.
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He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He robs world leaders of their reason, and sends them off into no man's land.
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He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without a clue, lurching and staggering like drunks.
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They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.