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.
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.
- BSB Should God repay you on your own terms when you have disavowed His? You must choose, not I; so tell me what you know.
- 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 33:32If thou hast anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.
- Prov 11:31Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.
- Ps 135:6Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
- Isa 45:9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
- Job 34:11For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
- Matt 20:12–15Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
- Rom 9:20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
- Job 41:11Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
- Ps 89:30–32If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
- Rom 11:35Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
- 2 Th 1:6–7Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
- Job 15:31Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
- Heb 11:26Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
- Job 18:4He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
- Job 33:5If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.
- Job 9:12Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
- Heb 2:2For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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.