Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.
Parallel translations
- WEB Allow me, and I also will speak; After I have spoken, mock on.
- KJV Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
- NKJV Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking.
- NASB “Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock me.
- NLT Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me.
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 asks them to bear with him while he speaks, and then they may mock on afterward. He claims his turn to be heard.
Overview
With a touch of weary irony, Job requests space to make his case, granting that they can resume their mockery once he has finished. He insists on his right to speak before being dismissed. The verse reflects the dignity owed even to the suffering to voice their grief, and the patience love should extend before passing judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 17:2Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.
- Job 16:10They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
- Job 16:20My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.
- Job 13:9Would it be well when He examined you? Could you deceive Him like a man?
- Job 12:4–5I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
- Job 33:31–33Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
- Job 13:13Be silent, and I will speak. Then let come to me what may.
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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 21:3 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.