What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Parallel translations
- WEB What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
- BSB Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
- NKJV Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
- NASB ‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’
- NLT Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’
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 wicked scorn serving God, asking what profit there is in prayer. They reduce religion to a cost-benefit calculation and reject it.
Overview
Job quotes the godless reasoning of the wicked, who see no advantage in worship or prayer. This echoes the cynicism later voiced in Malachi 3:14. Their question reveals a heart that worships only self-interest. True faith, by contrast, serves God for who He is, not merely for what He gives, as Job himself has demonstrated (Job 1:9-22).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 5:2And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
- Job 34:9For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.
- Mal 1:13–14Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
- Isa 30:11Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
- Prov 30:9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
- Ps 12:4Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
- Isa 45:19I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
- Job 35:3For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?
- Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
- Matt 7:7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
- John 16:24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
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 21:15 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.