Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
Parallel translations
- WEB Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?
- BSB Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
- 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 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Jer 17:10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
- Ps 44:21Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
- Isa 28:22Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
- Ps 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
- Job 34:36My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men.
- Job 17:2Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?
- Job 12:16With him is strength and wisdom: 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.