2Indeed, you are the [voice of] the people,And wisdom will die with you.
3But I, like you, have a mind,And am not less than you.Who does not know such things?
4I have become a laughingstock to my friend—“One who calls to God and is answered,Blamelessly innocent”—a laughingstock.
5aMeaning of verse uncertain. In the thought of the complacent there is contempt for calamity;It is ready for those whose foot slips.
6Robbers live untroubled in their tents,And those who provoke God are secure,Those whom God’s hands have produced.bThose whom God’s hands have produced Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
7But ask the beasts, and theycthe beasts, and they Or “behemoth, and it,” referring to a mythological being; cf. 40.15–24. will teach you;The birds of the sky, they will tell you,
8Or speak to the earth, it will teach you;The fish of the sea, they will inform you.
9Who among all these does not knowThat GOD’s hand has done this?
10In that hand is every living soulAnd the breath of all humankind.dall humankind Or “every single being,” i.e., including the animals, birds, and fish of vv. 7–9; cf. Gen. 7.2.
11Truly, the ear tests argumentsAs the palate tastes foods.
12Is wisdom in the agedAnd understanding in the long-lived?
13Wisdom and courage are God’s,As are counsel and understanding.
14Whatever [God] tears down cannot be rebuilt;Whoever is imprisoned cannot be set free.
15When the waters are held back, they dry up;When they are let loose, they tear up the land.
16Strength and resourcefulness are God’s,So are erring and causing to err.
17[God] thus makes counselors go about nakedenaked A sign of madness. And causes judges to go mad;
18Undoes the belts of kingsAnd fastens loincloths on them;
19Makes priests go about nakedfnaked See note at v. 17. And leads temple-servantsgtemple-servants Cf. Ugaritic ytnm, a class of temple servants; in contrast to others “the mighty.” astray;
20Deprives trusted ones of speechAnd takes away the reason of elders;
21Pours disgrace upon noblesAnd loosens the belt of the mighty;
22Draws mysteries out of the darknessAnd brings obscurities to light;
23Exalts nations, then destroys them,And expands nations, then leads them away.
24[God] deranges the leaders of the peopleAnd makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25They grope without light in the darkness,Made to wander as if drunk.