Suppose someone says to God, ‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more.
Parallel translations
- WEB “For has any said to God, ‘I am guilty, but I will not offend any more.
- KJV Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
- NKJV “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastening; I will offend no more;
- NASB ¶“For has anyone said to God, ‘I have endured punishment; I will not offend anymore;
- NLT “Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned, but I will sin no more’?
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
Elihu asks whether anyone, like Job, has rightly come to God confessing guilt and resolving to sin no more. True repentance acknowledges fault and turns from it.
Overview
Elihu presents the model of a humble penitent who says to God, 'I am guilty, I will not offend any more.' His point is that Job has not spoken to God this way but has instead justified himself. The verse upholds the necessity of honest confession, a posture the gospel both demands and enables, for God is faithful to forgive those who confess (1 John 1:9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Mic 7:9Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.
- Job 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
- Lev 26:41and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Job 40:3–5Then Job answered the LORD:
- Jer 31:18–19I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
- Ezra 9:13–14After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),
- Job 42:6Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Dan 9:7–14To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.
- Neh 9:33–38You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
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 34:31 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.