Job 12

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¹And Job answered and said, ²No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. ✦ ³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these? ✦ ⁴I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. ✦ ⁵He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease. ✦ ⁶The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. ✦ ⁷But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: ✦ ⁸Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. ⁹Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? ✦ ¹⁰In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. ✦ ¹¹Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat? ✦ ¹²With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. ✦ ¹³With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. ✦ ¹⁴Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. ✦ ¹⁵Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. ✦ ¹⁶With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his. ✦ ¹⁷He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. ✦ ¹⁸He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. ✦ ¹⁹He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. ✦ ²⁰He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. ✦ ²¹He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty. ✦ ²²He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. ✦ ²³He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. ✦ ²⁴He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. ✦ ²⁵They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Job 11 ·7 Job 12 ·6 Job 17 ·6 Job 6 ·5 Ps 107 ·5 Job 34 ·4 Job 9 ·4 Job 16 ·4

Christ at the center

Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.

How Job 12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Job 12YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Job 12David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Job 12Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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