1 Then Job replied [to his friends],

2 "You certainly are [wise] people, and when you die, wisdom will die.

3 Like you, I have a mind. I am not inferior to you. But who doesn't know these things?

4 I am a laughingstock to my neighbors. I am one who calls on God and expects an answer. A man of integrity, a man who is righteous, has become a laughingstock.

5 "A person who has an easy life has no appreciation for misfortune. He thinks it is the fate of those who slip up.

6 [But] robbers' tents are prosperous, and there is security for those who provoke God, for those whose god is their power.

7 "Instead, ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds, and they will tell you.

8 Or speak with the earth, and it will teach you. Even the fish will relate [the story] to you.

9 What creature doesn't know that the LORD's hands made it?

10 The life of every living creature and the spirit in every human body are in his hands.

11 Doesn't the ear distinguish sounds and the tongue taste food?

12 "Wisdom is with the ancient one. The one who has had many days has insight.

13 God has wisdom and strength. Advice and insight are his.

14 When he tears [something] down, it cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, that person cannot be freed.

15 When he holds back the waters, there is a drought. When he releases them, they flood the earth.

16 "God has power and priceless wisdom. He owns [both] the deceiver and the person who is deceived.

17 He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools out of judges.

18 He loosens kings' belts and strips them of their pants.

19 He leads priests away barefoot and misleads those who serve in a temple.

20 He makes trusted advisers unable to speak and takes away the good judgment of respected leaders.

21 He pours contempt on influential people and unbuckles the belt of the mighty.

22 He uncovers mysteries [hidden] in the darkness and brings gloom into the light.

23 He makes nations important and then destroys them. He makes nations large and leads them away.

24 He takes away the common sense of a country's leaders and makes them stumble about in a pathless wilderness.

25 They grope in the dark with no light, and he makes them stumble like drunks.