Dual Panel1Job said to his friends:
2You think you are so great, with all the answers.
3But I know as much as you do, and so does everyone else.
4I have always lived right, and God answered my prayers; now friends make fun of me.
5It's easy to condemn those who are suffering, when you have no troubles.
6Robbers and other godless people live safely at home and say, "God is in our hands!"
7If you want to learn, then go and ask the wild animals and the birds,
8the flowers and the fish.
9Any of them can tell you what the LORD has done.
10Every living creature is in the hands of God.
11We hear with our ears, taste with our tongues,
12and gain some wisdom from those who have lived a long time.
13But God is the real source of wisdom and strength.
14No one can rebuild what he destroys, or release those he has imprisoned.
15God can hold back the rain or send a flood,
16just as he rules over liars and those they lie to.
17God destroys counselors, turns judges into fools,
18and makes slaves of kings.
19God removes priests and others who have great power--
20he confuses wise, experienced advisors,
21puts mighty kings to shame, and takes away their power.
22God turns darkness to light;
23he makes nations strong, then shatters their strength.
24God strikes their rulers senseless, then leaves them to roam through barren deserts,
25lost in the dark, staggering like someone drunk.