But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!”
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.
- BSB But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
- 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 these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul.
- Job 31:16“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
- Job 17:5He who denounces his friends for plunder, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.
- Prov 20:20Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Job 18:14He shall be rooted out of the security of his tent. He shall be brought to the king of terrors.
- Luke 16:23–26In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
- Lev 26:16I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.
- Amos 5:19–20As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
- Heb 2:3how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation — which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard;
- Lam 4:17Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
- Prov 10:24What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
- Job 27:22For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.
- Job 8:13–14So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,
- Job 34:22There is no darkness, nor thick gloom, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
- Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Amos 2:14Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
- Amos 9:1–3I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Ps 69:3I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
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 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.