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Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice.
Job 34:12 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes surely, God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
  • KJV Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
  • BSB Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly, and the Almighty does not pervert justice.
  • NKJV Surely God will never do wickedly, Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
  • NASB “God certainly will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

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

Israel is warned not to make a covenant with the land's inhabitants, lest it become a snare. Compromise with idolatry is a deadly trap.

Overview

God commands separation from the Canaanites' false worship to protect Israel from being ensnared. The danger is not the people as such but the idolatry that would lure Israel away from the Lord. The principle endures: God's people must guard against entanglements that draw the heart away from exclusive devotion to Him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Job 8:3Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
  • Ps 11:7For Yahweh is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.
  • Ps 145:17Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.
  • Hab 1:12–13Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

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 34:12YouTube · 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 34:12 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.