12 Then Eyob answered:

3 

But I have brains as well as you;

why, anyone knows all you say.

4 

[[A man whose prayers were answered once by God,

is now derided by his friends!--

a just, a blameless man, derided!

5 

Men at ease sneer at the unfortunate;

when a man falters, there are blows for him.

6 

It is the plunderers who live unharmed;

those who provoke God are secure,

who make a god of their own power.]]

7 

Ask the very beasts, and they will teach you;

ask the wild birds--they will tell you;

8 

crawling creatures will instruct you,

fish in the sea will inform you:

9 

for which of them all knows not

that this is the Eternal’s way,

10 

in whose control lies every living soul,

and the whole life of man.

11 

Does not a man’s mind test what he is told,

as the palate tastes food for itself?

12 

Wisdom, you argue, lies with 12 aged men,

a long life means intelligence?

13 

Nay, wisdom and authority belong to God;

strength and knowledge are his own.

14 

He breaks down: there is no rebuilding;

imprisons: there is no release.

15 

He holds the rain back: earth is dry;

he lets it loose: the land is overwhelmed.

16 

Power and providence belong to him:

he is behind deceiver and deceived,

17 

he strips statesmen of their wits,

and makes a fool of councillors,

18 

he dismantles royalty,

and drives off kings in chains,

19 

he marches priests away barefoot,

their ancient orders he o’er-throws,

20 

orators he renders speechless,

aged men lose their judgment

21 

he pours contempt on lords,

and he unnerves the powerful,

22 

dark policies he brings to light,

and shady mysteries he exposes;

23 

he will extend a nation, to undo it,

he will enlarge a nation, then enslave it;

24 

he will distract its leading men

and set them in a pathless waste astray,

25 

where in the dark they grope without a light,

wandering aimless like a drunken wight.