Job 12:14–25

¹⁴What He tears down cannot be rebuilt;

the man He imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵If He holds back the waters, they dry up,

and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to Him.

The deceived and the deceiver are His.

¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot

and makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He loosens the bonds placed by kings

and fastens a belt around their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot

and overthrows the established.

²⁰He deprives the trusted of speech

and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹He pours out contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

²²He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings deep shadows into light.

²³He makes nations great and destroys them;

He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

²⁴He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason

and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in the darkness without light;

He makes them stagger like drunkards.’’