²⁰ He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old;

⁹ It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.

⁴ You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour.

²⁴ He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.

¹⁷ That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,

²¹ The lips of the upright man give food to men, but the foolish come to death for need of sense.

¹⁹ True lips are certain for ever, but a false tongue is only for a minute.

²² False lips are hated by the Lord, but those whose acts are true are his delight.

¹ For the Lord, the Lord of armies, is about to take away from Jerusalem and from Judah all their support; their store of bread and of water;

² The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

³ The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.