Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
Parallel translations
- WEB Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
- BSB Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
- NKJV Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
- NASB ‘Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the work of Your hands, And to look favorably on the plan of the wicked?
- NLT What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job questions whether it pleases God to oppress the work of His own hands while favoring the wicked. He appeals to God's character against his experience.
Overview
Job cannot reconcile God's apparent oppression of him, His own creature, with God's goodness, especially while the wicked seem to prosper. He rightly assumes God does not delight in crushing what He has made. This tension is ultimately resolved at the cross, where God's justice and love meet, and in the final judgment that sets all things right (Romans 3:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Isa 64:8But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
- Ps 138:8The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
- Job 14:15Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
- Jer 12:1–3Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
- Job 34:18–19Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?
- Job 22:18Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- 1 Pet 4:19Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
- Job 34:5–7For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
- Job 9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
- Lam 3:2–18He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
- Job 36:7–9He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.
- Job 9:22This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
- Job 21:16Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
- Ps 69:33For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
- Job 40:2Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
- Job 8:20Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:
- Job 40:8Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
- Job 36:17–18But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 10:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.