From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Parallel translations
- WEB From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
- KJV Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
- NKJV The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
- NASB “From the city people groan, And the souls of the wounded cry for help; Yet God does not pay attention to the offensiveness.
- NLT The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.
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
The dying groan in the city and the wounded cry out, yet seemingly without God's response. It matters because Job feels God ignores the suffering.
Overview
Job reaches a painful climax: the oppressed groan and the wounded cry, yet God appears not to charge anyone with wrong. This is Job's anguished perception that injustice goes unanswered, though he does not deny God's existence. Scripture assures that God does hear, and that the cry of the oppressed will be vindicated in His just time, fully in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Eccl 4:1Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
- Eccl 8:11–12When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Rom 2:4–5Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Mal 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- Ps 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
- Mal 3:15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
- Job 9:23When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
- Exod 1:13–14They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
- Ps 69:26For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded.
- 2 Pet 3:15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.
- Exod 2:23–24After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
- Judg 10:16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
- Exod 22:27because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
- Ps 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Isa 52:5And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.
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 24:12 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.