O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.
- KJV O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
- NKJV “O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place!
- NASB ¶“Earth, do not cover my blood, And may there be no resting place for my cry.
- NLT “O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf.
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 cries that the earth not cover his blood and his cry never rest until vindicated. He appeals for his cause to be heard.
Overview
Using the image of unavenged blood that cries out (Genesis 4:10), Job pleads that his innocent suffering not be silenced or forgotten. He longs for justice and vindication. This yearning for a cry that will not be stilled until righted anticipates the gospel, where the blood of Christ speaks a better word than Abel's (Hebrews 12:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 26:21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- Ezek 24:7For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust.
- Gen 4:11Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
- Ps 66:18–19If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Neh 4:5Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from Your sight, for they have provoked the builders.
- Isa 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Isa 58:9–10Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,
- Jas 4:3–4And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Job 27:9Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
- Jer 22:29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 16:18 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.