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1.
Then Job replied:
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2.
"Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!
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3.
But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?
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4.
"I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called upon God and he answered--a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
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5.
Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
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6.
The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure--those who carry their god in their hands.
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7.
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
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8.
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
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9.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
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10.
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
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11.
Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?
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12.
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
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13.
"To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
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14.
What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released.
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15.
If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
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16.
To him belong strength and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his.
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17.
He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges.
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18.
He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist.
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19.
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows men long established.
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20.
He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
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21.
He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
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22.
He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.
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23.
He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
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24.
He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.
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25.
They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
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