New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 Then Job spoke again:
1
Job responded:
2 “You people really know everything, don’t you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
2
Surely you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
3 Well, I know a few things myself— and you’re no better than I am. Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?
3
I am also intelligent; I'm not inferior to you. Who isn't like these people?
4 Yet my friends laugh at me, for I call on God and expect an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.
4
I'm a joke to friends who called to God and he answered; the innocent and blameless one is a joke,
5 People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.
5
a torch of contempt to one who is idle, a fixed point for slipping feet.
6 But robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God live in safety— though God keeps them in his power.
6
Raiders' tents are prosperous and God's provokers secure, who carry God in their hands.
7 “Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
7
But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you, the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you.
8
or talk to earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will recount it for you.
9 For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of the LORD .
9
Among all these, who hasn't known that the LORD's hand did this?
10 For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being.
10
In whose grasp is the life of every thing, the breath of every person?
11 The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
11
Doesn't the ear test words and the palate taste food?
12 Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.
12
"In old age is wisdom; understanding in a long life."
13 “But true wisdom and power are found in God; counsel and understanding are his.
13
With him are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
14 What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.
14
If he tears down, it can't be rebuilt; if he ties a person up, he can't be set free.
15 If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
15
If he restricts water, they have drought; if he lets it loose, it overturns the land.
16 Yes, strength and wisdom are his; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
16
With him are might and success; the deceiver and the deceived are his.
17 He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment; wise judges become fools.
17
He leads advisors away barefoot; makes madmen of judges;
18 He removes the royal robe of kings. They are led away with ropes around their waist.
18
unties the belt of kings, binds a garment around their loins;
19 He leads priests away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.
19
leads priests away barefoot; overthrows the well-established;
20 He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.
20
silences the talk of trusted people; takes away elders' discernment;
21 He pours disgrace upon princes and disarms the strong.
21
pours contempt on royalty; loosens the belt of the strong;
22 “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; he brings light to the deepest gloom.
22
discloses deep secrets of darkness, makes utter darkness enter the light;
23 He builds up nations, and he destroys them. He expands nations, and he abandons them.
23
makes nations prominent and destroys them, expands nations and leads them astray;
24 He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
24
takes away the power to think from earth's leaders, making them wander in untraveled wastelands.
25 They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.
25
They feel their way in the dark without light; he makes them stumble like drunks.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible