Ayub (Job) — 12

Ayub’s 4th Speech: A Response to Zuphar 

1 Then Ayub spoke again:

2 “You people really know everything, and when you die, wisdom will die with you!

3 Well, I know a few things myself, and you are no better than I am. Who does not know these things you have been saying?

4 Yet my friends laugh at me, for I call on my 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH and expect an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me.

5 People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.

6 But robbers are left in Shalum, and those who provoke 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH live in safety, though 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH keeps them in His power.

7 “Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

8 Speak to the Arath, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you.

9 For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

10 For the life of every living thing is in the hand of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, and the breath of every man.

11 The ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.

12 Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.

13 “But true wisdom and power are found in 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH; counsel and understanding are His.

14 What 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH destroys cannot be rebuilt. When He puts someone in prison, there is no escape.

15 If 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH holds back the rain, the Arath becomes a desert. If He releases the waters, they flood the Arath.

16 Yes, strength and wisdom are 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH's; The deceivers and deceived are both in the power of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH.

17 He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment; wise judges become fools.

18 He removes the royal robe of kings.    They are led away with ropes around their waist.

19 He leads Kuhanym away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.

20 He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.

21 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH pours shame upon princes and disarms the strong.

22 “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness; and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH brings light to the deepest gloom.

23 For 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH builds up nations, and He destroys them. 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH  expands nations, and He abandons them.

24 He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.

25 They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.