His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
- BSB Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
- NKJV Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
- NASB “Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
- NLT Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.
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 says the wicked person should witness his own ruin and drink the cup of God's wrath himself. He longs for justice to be personally experienced, not abstract.
Overview
The 'cup of wrath' is a recurring biblical image of God's judgment poured out (Ps 75:8; Jer 25:15). Job desires that the guilty taste it personally. Profoundly, the New Testament reveals that Christ drank this very cup of wrath on the cross (Matt 26:39), bearing for sinners the judgment they deserved, so that those who trust Him are spared.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Rev 14:10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
- Isa 51:17Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
- Ps 75:8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
- Rev 19:15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
- Ps 60:3Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
- Jer 51:7Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
- Luke 16:23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
- Job 27:19The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
- Jer 25:15–16For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
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 21:20 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.