Now hear my reasoning, And heed the pleadings of my lips.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hear now my reasoning. Listen to the pleadings of my lips.
- KJV Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
- BSB Hear now my argument, and listen to the plea of my lips.
- NASB “Please hear my argument, And give your attention to the contentions of my lips.
- NLT Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments.
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 calls his friends to stop talking and hear his argument. He demands a fair hearing of his defense.
Overview
Job pleads, 'Hear now my reasoning; listen to the pleadings of my lips.' He asks his accusers to become listeners. Having been lectured at length, he insists that justice requires they weigh his actual case rather than condemn him with assumptions.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Job 34:2“Hear my words, you wise men. Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.
- Job 33:1–3“However, Job, please hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
- Prov 8:6–7Hear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my lips is for right things.
- Judg 9:7When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, cried out, and said to them, “Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
- Job 21:2–3“Listen diligently to my speech. Let this be your consolation.
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 13:6 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.