The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.
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.
- 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.
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 4:1Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who 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 do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
- Mal 2:17You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- Ps 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
- Mal 3:15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
- Job 9:23If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent.
- Exod 1:13–14The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
- Ps 69:26For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
- 2 Pet 3:15Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;
- Exod 2:23–24In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
- Ps 109:22for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me.
- Judg 10:16They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
- Exod 22:27for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.
- Ps 12:5“Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
- Isa 52:5“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says Yahweh, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says Yahweh, “and my name is blasphemed continually all day long.
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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.