But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.
- KJV But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
- NKJV “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does.
- NASB “But He is unique, and who can make Him turn? Whatever His soul desires, He does it.
- NLT But once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does.
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 confesses that God is sovereign and unopposable, doing whatever He desires. It matters because Job submits to God's unchallengeable will even amid confusion.
Overview
Job acknowledges that God stands alone, beyond resistance, accomplishing all His pleasure. This is a high view of divine sovereignty, even though Job cannot understand why it is directed at his pain. Such confidence in God's unstoppable purpose anticipates the gospel assurance that His sovereign will works for the good of those He loves (Rom. 8:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 115:3Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.
- Prov 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- Isa 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Job 12:14What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
- Eccl 3:14I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
- Num 23:19–20God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Ps 135:6The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Isa 14:24–27The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Eccl 1:15What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
- Job 9:12–13If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Job 34:29But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,
- Eph 1:9–11And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
- Rom 9:19One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
- Job 11:10If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?
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 23:13 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.