But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.”
- KJV But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
- NKJV But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!”
- NASB “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”
- NLT But the wicked will be blinded. They will have no escape. Their only hope is death.”
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 warns that the wicked will fail, find no escape, and have only death as their hope. He ends with a stern threat aimed at Job.
Overview
Zophar closes by contrasting the doom of the wicked, whose only prospect is despairing death, implicitly warning Job to repent. The fate of the unrepentant wicked is real, but Zophar wrongly numbers Job among them. The verse soberly reminds us that apart from God there is no refuge, and drives us to the only sure hope, found in Christ rather than in ourselves (Proverbs 10:28; Psalm 73:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Deut 28:65Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Job 31:16If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
- Job 17:5If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
- Prov 20:20Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.
- Job 18:14He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
- Luke 16:23–26In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- Lev 26:16then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
- Amos 5:19–20It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
- Heb 2:3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
- Lam 4:17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
- Prov 10:24What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
- Job 27:22It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.
- Job 8:13–14Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Job 34:22There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.
- Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Amos 2:14Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
- Amos 9:1–3I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
- Ps 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 11:20 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.