I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
Parallel translations
- WEB I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
- KJV I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
- NKJV I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments.
- NASB “I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.
- NLT I would lay out my case and present my arguments.
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 imagines laying out his case before God in an orderly way, filling his mouth with arguments. He longs for a fair hearing of his innocence.
Overview
Job pictures himself as a litigant carefully presenting his defense before God. He is confident that, given a hearing, his integrity would be evident. This reflects not arrogance but a sufferer's craving for vindication. It also points to humanity's need for a mediator between God and man, ultimately met in Christ (1 Tim 2:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 13:18Behold, now that I have prepared my case, I know that I will be vindicated.
- Dan 9:18–19Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
- Ps 25:11For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Num 14:13–19But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
- Josh 7:8–9O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
- Exod 32:12–13Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.
- Ps 43:1Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
- Gen 32:12But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
- Job 37:19Teach us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case when our faces are in darkness.
- Gen 18:25–32Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
- Isa 43:26Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated.
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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 23:4 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.