For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
Parallel translations
- WEB For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.
- KJV For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
- NKJV For destruction from God is a terror to me, And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.
- NASB “For disaster from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.
- NLT That would be better than facing God’s judgment. For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?
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
Job explains that calamity from God was a terror to him and he could do nothing against God's majesty. The fear of God restrained him from sin.
Overview
Job reveals the deepest motive behind his righteousness: a reverent dread of God's judgment and an awareness that he is powerless before God's majesty. This holy fear, not mere social pressure, kept him from wickedness. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it finds its fullest expression in the gospel, where reverence for God is joined to love through the saving work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 13:11Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?
- Ps 119:120My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
- 2 Cor 5:11Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- Ps 76:7You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Isa 13:6Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Job 21:20Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
- Joel 1:15Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Job 20:23When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
- Gen 39:9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
- Job 40:9Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Job 42:5–6My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.
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 31:23 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.