Limitless Word
So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny.
Job 23:14 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.
  • KJV For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
  • BSB For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans.
  • NKJV For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him.
  • NASB “For He carries out what is destined for me, And many such destinies are with Him.

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 believes God will carry out what He has appointed for him, among many such purposes. It matters because Job senses his suffering is part of a larger divine plan he cannot see.

Overview

Job recognizes that God performs the decree set for him, and that many similar things lie hidden in God's counsel. This both comforts and unsettles Job, for the plan is God's and not his to control. The unseen purposes of God ultimately find their resolution in the cross, where suffering serves redemption.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • 1 Th 3:3that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
  • 1 Th 5:9For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
  • Ps 77:19Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
  • Rom 11:33Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
  • Isa 40:27–28Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, “My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?”
  • Ps 97:2Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
  • Mic 6:9Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.
  • 1 Pet 2:8and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
  • Job 7:3so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 23:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 23:14 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.