Job 12 Contemporary English Version

12 ¹Job said to his friends:
²You think you are so great,
    with all the answers.
³But I know as much as you do,
    and so does everyone else.
⁴I have always lived right,
and God answered my prayers;
    now friends make fun of me.
⁵It's easy to condemn
those who are suffering,
    when you have no troubles.
⁶Robbers and other godless people
live safely at home and say,
    “God is in our hands!”^[a]

If You Want To Learn

⁷If you want to learn,
    then go and ask
the wild animals and the birds,
⁸    the flowers and the fish.
⁹Any of them can tell you
    what the Lord has done.^[b]
¹⁰Every living creature
    is in the hands of God.

¹¹We hear with our ears,
    taste with our tongues,
¹²and gain some wisdom from those
    who have lived a long time.
¹³But God is the real source
    of wisdom and strength.
¹⁴No one can rebuild
what he destroys, or release
    those he has imprisoned.
¹⁵God can hold back the rain
    or send a flood,
¹⁶just as he rules over liars
    and those they lie to.

¹⁷God shames counselors,
turns judges into fools,
¹⁸    and makes slaves of kings.
¹⁹God removes priests and others
    who have great power—
²⁰he confuses wise,
    experienced advisors,
²¹puts mighty kings to shame,
    and takes away their power.
²²God turns darkness to light;
²³he makes nations strong,
    then shatters their strength.
²⁴God strikes their rulers senseless,
then leaves them to roam
    through barren deserts,
²⁵lost in the dark, staggering
    like someone drunk.