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Job’s Third Response[a]

Chapter 12

Wisdom Will Die with You.[b] Job then answered with these words:

“Undoubtedly, you are the voice of the people,
    and when you die, wisdom will die with you.
But I also have intelligence;
    I am not inferior to you in this regard.
    Who is ignorant of all these things?
[c]“I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
    I whom God would answer when I called upon him;
    although I am innocent and just, he afflicted me.
Those who live untroubled lives scorn the misfortunes of others,
    the blows that strike those who are already staggering.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 12:1 Turning his back on his friends, Job addresses his God directly and boldly asks him to justify his conduct.
  2. Job 12:1 Job observes a disturbing contrast between the misfortune of the righteous and the tranquility of robbers. The whole of creation is a witness of this drama.
  3. Job 12:4 The righteous who are afflicted even have to suffer the scorn of the impious: see Ps 22:7-22; Mt 27:39-43.