Job answers his critics
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Then Job answered and said,
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“No doubt you are the people; wisdom will die with you.
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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
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I am something for my neighbor to laugh at-I, one who called on God and who was answered by him! I, a just and blameless man-I am now something to laugh at.
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In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune; he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is slipping.
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The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God feel secure; their own hands are their gods.
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But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; ask the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.
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Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; the fish of the sea will declare to you.
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Which animal among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this?
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In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
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Does not the ear test words just as the palate tastes its food?
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With aged men is wisdom; in length of days is understanding.
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With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
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See, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again; if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.
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See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up; and if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
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With him are strength and wisdom; people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.
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He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow; he turns judges into fools.
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He takes off the chain of authority from kings; he wraps a cloth about their waists.
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He leads priests away barefoot in sorrow and overthrows mighty people.
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He removes the speech of those who had been trusted and takes away the understanding of the elders.
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He pours contempt upon princes and unfastens the belt of strong people.
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He reveals deep things from darkness and brings out to light the shadows where dead people are.
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He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them; He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.
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He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth; he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
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They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunk man.
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