Because you would forget your misery, And remember it as waters that have passed away,
Parallel translations
- WEB for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it like waters that have passed away.
- KJV Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
- BSB For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.
- NASB “For you would forget your trouble; Like waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
- NLT You will forget your misery; it will be like water flowing away.
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
Zophar says Job would forget his misery, recalling it like waters that have flowed away. He pictures sorrow fully past.
Overview
Zophar promises that restoration would make Job's pain a distant memory, gone like water that has drained off. The image of forgotten grief is appealing, though offered on flawed terms. It echoes a true gospel hope, for God promises a day when former sorrows are remembered no more and every tear is wiped away (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 65:16so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
- Eccl 5:20For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
- Isa 54:9“For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
- John 16:21A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.
- Isa 54:4“Don’t be afraid; for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded; for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.
- Gen 41:51Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.”
- Rev 7:14–17I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
- Isa 12:1–2In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.
- Prov 31:7Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
- Job 22:11or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
- Gen 9:11I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
- Job 6:15My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 11:16 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.