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He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.
Job 33:26 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He prays to God, and he is favorable to him, so that he sees his face with joy. He restores to man his righteousness.
  • BSB He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.
  • NKJV He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.
  • NASB Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, So that he may see His face with joy, And He will restore His righteousness to that person.
  • NLT When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing.

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 restored man prays, God receives him with favor, and his righteousness is restored. It shows reconciliation with God as the heart of true deliverance.

Overview

The redeemed man turns to God in prayer and is welcomed, seeing God's face 'with joy' and having his righteous standing restored. This is more than healing; it is renewed fellowship with God. The verse anticipates the gospel reality that through Christ believers are reconciled to God and receive a righteousness not their own (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • Ps 50:15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
  • Ps 30:5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
  • Acts 2:28Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
  • Acts 9:11And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
  • Isa 30:19For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
  • Ps 91:15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
  • Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
  • Jer 33:3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
  • Heb 11:26Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
  • Ps 67:1God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
  • Prov 24:12If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
  • Ps 116:1–6I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
  • 1 Sam 26:23The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’s anointed.
  • Num 6:25–26The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
  • 2 Kgs 20:2–5Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
  • Matt 10:41–42He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
  • Jonah 2:2–7And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
  • Ps 30:7–11LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
  • Ps 6:1–9O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
  • Job 42:8–9Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
  • Ps 16:11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
  • Ps 41:8–11An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
  • Ps 18:20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
  • Ps 28:1–2Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
  • Ps 62:12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
  • Job 34:28So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.
  • Ps 4:6–7There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
  • 2 Chr 33:12–13And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
  • Job 22:26–27For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
  • 2 Chr 33:19His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
  • Job 34:11For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
  • Ps 28:6Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

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 33:26YouTube · 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 33:26 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.