He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
Parallel translations
- WEB He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
- KJV He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
- NKJV He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.
- NASB “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.
- NLT He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
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
God gathers the waters in thick clouds that do not burst. It matters because it shows His wise control over the forces of nature.
Overview
Job marvels that God binds vast quantities of water in clouds, yet the clouds do not tear under the weight. The ordinary wonder of rain reveals God's sustaining wisdom. Such providence over creation assures believers that the God who orders the skies also tenderly governs their lives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Job 37:11–16He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them.
- Prov 30:4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
- Jer 10:13When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
- Isa 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Job 38:37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
- Ps 135:7He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
- Job 38:9when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
- Ps 18:10–11He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
- Job 36:29Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out, how the thunder roars from His pavilion?
- Gen 1:6–7And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 26:8 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.