For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
- BSB For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.
- NKJV For the company of hypocrites will be barren, And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
- NASB “For the company of the godless is barren, And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.
- NLT For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
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
The company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who take bribes. Corruption brings desolation and judgment.
Overview
Eliphaz pronounces that the assembly of the impious yields no offspring and that bribery's dwellings are burned. He links injustice, especially bribery, with sterility and fiery judgment. This reflects God's hatred of corruption (Exodus 23:8), though as a verdict on Job's circle it is unfounded, for Job had been a defender of justice (Job 29:12-17).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Job 8:13So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:
- Job 27:8For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
- Job 8:22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
- Mic 7:2The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
- Job 12:6The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
- Job 11:14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
- Job 36:13But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.
- Job 29:12–17Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
- Job 22:5–9Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
- Amos 5:11–12Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- 1 Sam 12:3Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
- Matt 24:51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- 1 Sam 8:3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
- Isa 33:14–15The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
- Job 20:1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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 15:34 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.