Let them see their destruction with their own eyes. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
- KJV His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall 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.
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 14:10he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
- Isa 51:17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
- Ps 75:8For in Yahweh’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.
- Rev 19:15Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
- Ps 60:3You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.
- Jer 51:7Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Luke 16:23In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
- Job 27:19He lies down rich, but he shall not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not.
- Jer 25:15–16For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, 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.