Job 5:9-16

5:9 He does great and unsearchable things,

marvelous things without number;

5:10 he gives rain on the earth,

and sends water on the fields;

5:11 he sets the lowly on high,

that those who mourn are raised to safety.

5:12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty

so that their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned!

5:13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness,

and the counsel of the cunning is brought to a quick end.

5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,

and grope about in the noontime as if it were night.

5:15 So he saves from the sword that comes from their mouth,

even the poor from the hand of the powerful.

5:16 Thus the poor have hope,

and iniquity shuts its mouth.

Job 12:9-25

12:9 Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

12:10 in whose hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all the human race.

12:11 Does not the ear test words,

as the tongue tastes food?

12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?

Does not long life bring understanding?

12:13 “With God are wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

12:14 If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;

if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.

12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;

if he releases them, they destroy the land.

12:16 With him are strength and prudence;

both the one who goes astray

and the one who misleads are his.

12:17 He leads counselors away stripped

and makes judges into fools.

12:18 He loosens the bonds of kings

and binds a loincloth around their waist.

12:19 He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the potentates.

12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers of speech

and takes away the discernment of elders.

12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen

and disarms the powerful.

12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,

and brings deep shadows into the light.

12:23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;

he extends the boundaries of nations

and disperses them.

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth

of their understanding;

he makes them wander

in a trackless desert waste.

12:25 They grope about in darkness without light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job 42:3-6

42:3 you asked,

‘Who is this who darkens counsel

without knowledge?’

But I have declared without understanding

things too wonderful for me to know.

42:4 You said,

‘Pay attention, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you will answer me.’

42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye has seen you.

42:6 Therefore I despise myself,

and I repent in dust and ashes!