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Then Job answered and said:
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"No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you!
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But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
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"I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
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A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; It is made ready for those whose feet slip.
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The tents of robbers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure-- In what God provides by His hand.
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"But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
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Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
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Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this,
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In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
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Does not the ear test words And the mouth taste its food?
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Wisdom is with aged men, And with length of days, understanding.
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"With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding.
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If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
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If He withholds the waters, they dry up; If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
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With Him are strength and prudence. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
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He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges.
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He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt.
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He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty.
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He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
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He pours contempt on princes, And disarms the mighty.
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He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light.
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He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them.
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He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
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They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.