“For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do.
Parallel translations
- WEB “For his eyes are on the ways of a man. He sees all his goings.
- KJV For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
- BSB For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
- NKJV “ForHis eyes are on the ways of man, And He sees all his steps.
- NASB ¶“For His eyes are upon the ways of a person, And He sees all his steps.
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
God's eyes are on every step a person takes; He sees all our ways. It affirms God's complete knowledge of human conduct.
Overview
Elihu declares that God watches all the ways of a person and observes every step. Because God sees everything, His judgments are perfectly informed and just. This omniscience is both a warning to the unrepentant and a comfort to the faithful, who are fully known yet, in Christ, fully loved and forgiven.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 15:3Yahweh’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- Job 31:4Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?
- Jer 16:17For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.
- Prov 5:21For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.
- Jer 32:19great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
- Ps 139:23Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
- Gen 16:13She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
- Jer 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
- 2 Chr 16:9For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”
- Ps 34:15Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.
- Amos 9:8Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 34:21 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.