I would order my cause 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.
- BSB I would plead my case 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, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
- Dan 9:18–19O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
- Ps 25:11For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
- Num 14:13–19And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
- Josh 7:8–9O LORD, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
- Exod 32:12–13Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
- Ps 43:1Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
- Gen 32:12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
- Job 37:19Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
- Gen 18:25–32That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
- Isa 43:26Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 23:4 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.