Job 12:4
2 “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!
3 But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
5 The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
6 The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
- KJV
- I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
- WEB
- I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
- ASV
- I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.
- DARBY
- I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright [man].
- BLB
- I have become a laughingstock to his neighbor, one calling on God and He answered him, righteous [and] blameless—a laughingstock.
- ÅB
- Til spott for mine venner er jeg, jeg som ropte til Gud og fikk svar; til spott er jeg, den rettskafne og ulastelige.
- OTB
- Jeg har blitt en spøk for mine venner,
jeg som kalte på Gud og ble besvart—
en rettferdig og skyldfri mann har blitt en spøk. - B1930
- Til spott for mine venner er jeg, jeg som ropte til Gud og fikk svar; til spott er jeg, den rettskafne og ulastelige.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Job 30:1
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
Read in contextJob 21:3
Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Read in contextPsalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
Read in contextJob 17:6
He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
Read in contextPsalms 22:7–8
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
Read in contextJob 16:10
They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
Read in contextJob 17:2
Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
Read in contextJeremiah 33:3
Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
Read in context