Surely God will not listen to empty talk, Nor will the Almighty regard it.
Parallel translations
- WEB Surely God will not hear an empty cry, neither will the Almighty regard it.
- KJV Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
- BSB Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.
- NASB “God certainly will not listen to an empty cry, Nor will the Almighty regard it.
- NLT But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say the Almighty isn’t concerned.
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 declares that God will not heed an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it. God answers genuine, humble prayer, not hollow complaint.
Overview
Building on the prior verse, Elihu states that God does not listen to vain, insincere cries. The issue is the heart behind the prayer, not God's compassion, for elsewhere He hears the afflicted (Ps. 34:17). This calls for prayer offered in faith and humility, the kind of access believers now have boldly through Jesus Christ our great High Priest (Heb. 4:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Prov 15:29Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
- Jas 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
- Isa 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Jer 11:11Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to me, but I will not listen to them.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Job 22:22–27Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
- Amos 5:22Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.
- Hos 8:2–3They cry to me, ‘My God, we Israel acknowledge you!’
- Hos 7:14They haven’t cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me.
- Ps 102:17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
- Matt 20:21–22He said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom.”
- Matt 6:7In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.
- Prov 28:9He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
- Eccl 5:1–3Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.
- Job 27:8–9For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Job 30:20I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 35:13 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.