Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
Parallel translations
- WEB Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?
- KJV Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
- NKJV Will it be well when He searches you out? Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?
- NASB “Will it go well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?
- NLT What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?
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 warns that God will scrutinize his friends as well. They cannot deceive the One who searches all hearts.
Overview
Job asks whether it would go well if God searched them out, and whether they could deceive God as one deceives a man. The God who tries the heart cannot be fooled by clever theology. Their false defense of God exposes them to the very judgment they pronounce on Job.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gal 6:7–8Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Jer 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Ps 44:21would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
- Isa 28:22So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.
- Ps 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Job 34:36If only Job were tried to the utmost for answering like a wicked man.
- Job 17:2Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
- Job 12:16True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
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 13:9 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.