Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to reason with God.
- KJV Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
- NKJV But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God.
- NASB ¶“But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God.
- NLT As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.
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 would rather plead his case directly before God than argue with his friends. He longs to reason with the Almighty Himself.
Overview
Turning from his friends, Job expresses his deepest desire: to speak to the Almighty and reason with God. Rather than debating men who misjudge him, he appeals to the only true Judge. This longing for a direct hearing before God foreshadows the mediator humanity needs, supplied in Christ, through whom believers draw near to God with confidence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 41:21“Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.
- Isa 1:18–20“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Job 9:3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
- Job 13:22Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.
- Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
- Mic 6:2Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Job 9:14–15How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
- Job 11:5But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,
- Job 13:15Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
- Jer 12:1–2Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Job 9:34–35Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
- Job 23:3–7If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
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 13:3 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.