A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
Parallel translations
- WEB the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
- KJV The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
- NKJV The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
- NASB “The wicked person writhes in pain all his days, And the years reserved for the ruthless are numbered.
- NLT “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives. Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
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
Eliphaz declares that the wicked man suffers inner torment all his days, with a fixed span of trouble laid up for the oppressor. He frames wickedness as a life of self-inflicted anguish.
Overview
Here begins Eliphaz's vivid portrait of the doom of the wicked, meant to imply Job belongs in that category. He pictures the godless as never truly at peace, haunted by dread throughout his appointed years. While Scripture affirms that sin brings ruin, Eliphaz wrongly assumes all present suffering proves present guilt, a mistake the book as a whole corrects.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 27:13This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
- Jas 5:1–6Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Job 24:1“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
- Luke 12:19–21Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Rom 8:22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
- Ps 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
- Ps 90:3–4You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
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 15:20 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.