Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed His? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.
Parallel translations
- WEB Shall his recompense be as you desire, that you refuse it? For you must choose, and not I. Therefore speak what you know.
- KJV Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.
- NKJV Should He repay it according to your terms, Just because you disavow it? You must choose, and not I; Therefore speak what you know.
- NASB “Shall God repay on your terms, because you have rejected His? For you must choose, and not I; Therefore declare what you know.
- NLT “Must God tailor his justice to your demands? But you have rejected him! The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us.
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 challenges Job: should God tailor His justice to Job's preferences when Job himself rejects it? God's standards are not subject to human approval.
Overview
This dense verse confronts Job with a choice: he cannot demand that God recompense matters according to Job's own terms while refusing God's verdict. Elihu insists Job must decide whether to submit, then speak what he truly knows. The thrust is that God's judgment is not negotiable, a truth that humbles every claim of self-righteousness before the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Job 33:32But if you have something to say, answer me; speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
- Prov 11:31If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
- Ps 135:6The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Job 34:11For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.
- Matt 20:12–15‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
- Rom 9:20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Job 41:11Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
- Ps 89:30–32If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments,
- Rom 11:35“Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?”
- 2 Th 1:6–7After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
- Job 15:31Let him not deceive himself with trust in emptiness, for emptiness will be his reward.
- Heb 11:26He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.
- Job 18:4You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?
- Job 33:5Refute me if you can; prepare your case and confront me.
- Job 9:12If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
- Heb 2:2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,
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 34:33 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.