Job responds to his friends

After hearing the rebukes and accusations from his friends, Job answers them. He agrees with his friends in the Almighty power of God and His Sovereign Will to do as he pleases. He even goes to the extreme to say that the birds, the earth, the beasts, the fish, basically the whole of His Creation, know of His power.

Aside from the power of nature, Job also describes God's power over humans. None of us humans, no matter how high position we hold, can defend ourselves (about our righteousness) in any way before God. God is in control over any counselors, princes, kings and so on. These last few verses may be a little hard to understand but perhaps Job is trying to say that God knows things that even the wisest and most powerful of men cannot understand. Perhaps this is Job telling his friends not to simplify his problems and assume that Job is guilty of some sin.

Job 12

 ¹ Then Job answered and said:

 ² “No doubt you are the people,
      And wisdom will die with you!
 ³ But I have understanding as well as you;
      I am not inferior to you.
      Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
 ⁴ “I am one mocked by his friends,
      Who called on God, and He answered him,
      The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
 ⁵ A lamp^[a] is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;
      It is made ready for those whose feet slip.
 ⁶ The tents of robbers prosper,
      And those who provoke God are secure—
      In what God provides by His hand.
 ⁷ “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
      And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
 ⁸ Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
      And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
 ⁹ Who among all these does not know
      That the hand of the LORD has done this,
 ¹⁰ In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
      And the breath of all mankind?
 ¹¹ Does not the ear test words
      And the mouth taste its food?
 ¹² Wisdom is with aged men,
      And with length of days, understanding.
 ¹³ “With Him are wisdom and strength,
      He has counsel and understanding.
 ¹⁴ If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;
      If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
 ¹⁵ If He withholds the waters, they dry up;
      If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
 ¹⁶ With Him are strength and prudence.
      The deceived and the deceiver are His.
 ¹⁷ He leads counselors away plundered,
      And makes fools of the judges.
 ¹⁸ He loosens the bonds of kings,
      And binds their waist with a belt.
 ¹⁹ He leads princes^[b] away plundered,
      And overthrows the mighty.
 ²⁰ He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
      And takes away the discernment of the elders.
 ²¹ He pours contempt on princes,
      And disarms the mighty.
 ²² He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
      And brings the shadow of death to light.
 ²³ He makes nations great, and destroys them;
      He enlarges nations, and guides them.
 ²⁴ He takes away the understanding^[c] of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
      And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
 ²⁵ They grope in the dark without light,
      And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.