1Then Job answered, 2"No doubt, but you are the people, 3But I have understanding as well as you; 4I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, 5In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. 6The tents of robbers prosper. 7"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; 8Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. 9Who doesn't know that in all these, 10in whose hand is the life of every living thing, 11Doesn't the ear try words, 12With aged men is wisdom, 13"With God is wisdom and might. 14Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. 15Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. 16With him is strength and wisdom. 17He leads counselors away stripped. 18He loosens the bond of kings. 19He leads priests away stripped, 20He removes the speech of those who are trusted, 21He pours contempt on princes, 22He uncovers deep things out of darkness, 23He increases the nations, and he destroys them. 24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, 25They grope in the dark without light.