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Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
Job 30:15 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.
  • BSB Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
  • NKJV Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
  • NASB “Sudden terrors are turned upon me; They chase away my dignity like the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
  • NLT I live in terror now. My honor has blown away in the wind, and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.

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

Terrors have turned against Job, his honor is chased away like the wind, and his prosperity has vanished like a passing cloud. He laments the swift loss of dignity and security.

Overview

Job feels surrounded by dread, his former honor scattered as easily as wind disperses chaff, and his well-being dissolved like a cloud that quickly passes. The verse marks the reversal of his once-blessed life into terror and emptiness. It illustrates the fleeting nature of earthly standing and prepares us to value the unshakable honor God gives in Christ rather than the passing esteem of men.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Hos 13:3Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
  • Ps 88:15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
  • Job 31:23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
  • Ps 55:4–5My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
  • Isa 44:22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
  • Job 3:25For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
  • Job 7:9As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
  • Job 7:14Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
  • Job 10:16For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
  • Job 9:27–28If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
  • Hos 6:4O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 30:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 30:15 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.