Job 32

Read the chapter

¹Job’s three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence. ✦ ²Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. ✦ ³He was also angry with Job’s three friends, for they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job’s arguments. ✦ ⁴Elihu had waited for the others to speak to Job because they were older than he. ✦ ⁵But when he saw that they had no further reply, he spoke out angrily. ✦ ⁶Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said, “I am young and you are old, so I held back from telling you what I think. ✦ ⁷I thought, ‘Those who are older should speak, for wisdom comes with age.’ ✦ ⁸But there is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent. ✦ ⁹Sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice. ✦ ¹⁰So listen to me, and let me tell you what I think. ✦ ¹¹“I have waited all this time, listening very carefully to your arguments, listening to you grope for words. ✦ ¹²I have listened, but not one of you has refuted Job or answered his arguments. ✦ ¹³And don’t tell me, ‘He is too wise for us. Only God can convince him.’ ✦ ¹⁴If Job had been arguing with me, I would not answer with your kind of logic! ¹⁵You sit there baffled, with nothing more to say. ✦ ¹⁶Should I continue to wait, now that you are silent? Must I also remain silent? ✦ ¹⁷No, I will say my piece. I will speak my mind. ✦ ¹⁸For I am full of pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on. ✦ ¹⁹I am like a cask of wine without a vent, like a new wineskin ready to burst! ✦ ²⁰I must speak to find relief, so let me give my answers. ✦ ²¹I won’t play favorites or try to flatter anyone. ✦ ²²For if I tried flattery, my Creator would soon destroy me. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

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.

Where this chapter connects

Job 32 ·6 Job 13 ·6 Matt 22 ·5 Job 15 ·4 Job 29 ·4 Job 33 ·4 Job 12 ·3 1 Cor 1 ·3

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 32 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Job 32YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Job 32David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Job 32Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Job 31 Job 33 →