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The heavens will reveal his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him.
Job 20:27 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.
  • KJV The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
  • BSB The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
  • NASB “The heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.
  • NLT The heavens will reveal their guilt, and the earth will testify against them.

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 heavens reveal his guilt and the earth rises against him. All creation testifies to the wicked man's iniquity.

Overview

Zophar declares that the entire created order, heaven above and earth below, bears witness against the wicked man's sin, leaving him no hiding place. The cosmic testimony underscores that sin cannot be concealed from God or escape exposure. It anticipates the day when all hidden things are brought to light before the throne of God (Luke 12:2-3).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Job 16:18“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.
  • Isa 26:21For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
  • Luke 12:2–3But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.
  • Job 18:18He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
  • Rom 2:16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
  • Ps 44:20–21If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god;
  • 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
  • Jer 29:23because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says Yahweh.
  • Deut 31:28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
  • Mal 3:5I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 20:27YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 20:27 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.