Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness shall be his reward.
- BSB Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
- NKJV Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward.
- NASB “Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For his reward will be emptiness.
- NLT Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches, for emptiness will be their only reward.
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 warns against trusting in emptiness, for emptiness will be the deceived man's only reward. Self-deception leads to hollow ruin.
Overview
He cautions that the wicked who relies on vanity deceives himself and reaps nothing but vanity. This is genuine wisdom: trusting in what is empty yields emptiness (Jeremiah 2:5). The verse rightly exposes the folly of false confidence, even as it wrongly insinuates that Job's faith rests on such empty ground rather than on the living God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 59:4None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
- Gal 6:3For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
- Ps 62:10Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
- Hos 8:7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
- Gal 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Job 12:16With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
- Eph 5:6Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
- Jonah 2:8They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
- Job 4:8Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
- Prov 22:8He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Isa 17:10–11Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
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 15:31 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.