Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
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.
- BSB From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
- 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 4:1So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
- Eccl 8:11–12Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Rom 2:4–5Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
- Mal 2:17Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
- Ps 50:21These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
- Mal 3:15And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
- Job 9:23If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
- Exod 1:13–14And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
- Ps 69:26For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
- 2 Pet 3:15And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
- Exod 2:23–24And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
- Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
- Judg 10:16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
- Exod 22:27For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
- Ps 12:5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
- Isa 52:5Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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 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.