‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’
Parallel translations
- WEB What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
- KJV What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto 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?’
- 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 5:2Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
- Job 34:9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.’
- Mal 1:13–14You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?” says Yahweh.
- Isa 30:11Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
- Prov 30:9lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
- Ps 12:4who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
- Isa 45:19I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
- Job 35:3That you ask, ‘What advantage will it be to you? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’
- Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
- Matt 7:7“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
- John 16:24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
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 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.