📖 Job — Chapter 12 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 12:1 And Job answered and said,
Job 12:2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
Job 12:3 RBut I have Tunderstanding as well as you; TI am not inferior to you: yea, Twho knoweth not such things as these?
Job 12:4 I am as Rone mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
Job 12:5 He that is Rready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
Job 12:6 The Rtabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
Job 12:7 RBut ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Job 12:9 RWho knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
Job 12:10 In Rwhose hand is the Tsoul of every living thing, and the breath of Tall mankind.
Job 12:11 RDoth not the ear try words? and the Tmouth taste his meat?
Job 12:12 RWith the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
Job 12:13 TWith Rhim is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
Job 12:14 Behold, Rhe breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth Tup a man, and there can be no opening.
Job 12:15 RBehold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
Job 12:16 RWith him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
Job 12:17 RHe leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
Job 12:18 RHe looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
Job 12:19 RHe leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
Job 12:20 He removeth away Rthe Tspeech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
Job 12:21 He Rpoureth contempt upon princes, and Tweakeneth the strength of the mighty.
Job 12:22 He Rdiscovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
Job 12:23 He Rincreaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and Tstraiteneth them again.
Job 12:24 RHe 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.
Job 12:25 They Rgrope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to Tstagger like a drunken man.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 12:1–6 — Job challenges the friends' superiority
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job responds sharply that his friends do not possess wisdom alone. He describes the humiliation of an upright sufferer and points out that robbers can prosper. This observation challenges their simple equation of circumstances with character. Compassion requires taking uncomfortable evidence seriously rather than defending a theory at the sufferer's expense.
Key Truth: Listen to evidence that challenges an easy explanation.
Check What You Remember
1. What does Job say he has as well as his friends? (Job 12:3)
Find it in Job 12:3 (KJV).
2. Who is laughed to scorn in his description? (Job 12:4)
Find it in Job 12:4 (KJV).
3. Whose tents does he say prosper? (Job 12:6)
Find it in Job 12:6 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 12:7–12 — Creation and shared understanding
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job points to animals, earth, and fish as witnesses to God's hand over living things. He also mentions testing words and the wisdom of age. He is not ignorant of the truths his friends present. Recognizing shared knowledge can help the conversation move beyond repeating maxims toward the actual unresolved difficulty.
Key Truth: Do not mistake a person's questions for ignorance of familiar truths.
Check What You Remember
1. Name one creature group Job says can teach. (Job 12:7)
Find it in Job 12:7 (KJV).
2. In whose hand is every living soul and human breath? (Job 12:10)
Find it in Job 12:10 (KJV).
3. What does the ear test? (Job 12:11)
Find it in Job 12:11 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 12:13–25 — Power beyond human institutions
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job describes God overturning the strength of rulers, advisers, nations, and judges. Wisdom and power belong to God, not securely to the positions people occupy. The speech emphasizes how unstable human claims to control can be. Its picture deepens the dispute instead of reducing God's rule to a simple reward formula.
Key Truth: Human position does not secure mastery of God's ways.
Check What You Remember
1. Who possesses wisdom, strength, counsel, and understanding? (Job 12:13)
Find it in Job 12:13 (KJV).
2. What can God withhold or send to overturn the earth? (Job 12:15)
Find it in Job 12:15 (KJV).
3. What can he enlarge or destroy? (Job 12:23)
Find it in Job 12:23 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Ecclesiastes 8:14 — Ecclesiastes also observes that outward outcomes do not neatly correspond to righteousness and wickedness.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you stay teachable when facts resist the explanation you expected?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does Job challenge the friends’ claim to superior understanding?
2. What observation challenges a simple equation of present security with goodness?
3. What unites the beasts, birds, earth, and fish in Job’s appeal?
4. How does the ear-and-mouth comparison fit the discussion?
5. How does the closing extend the theme of divine power into public life?
Notes
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