“But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.
Parallel translations
- WEB “But those who are godless in heart lay up anger. They don’t cry for help when he binds them.
- KJV But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.
- BSB The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.
- NASB “But the godless in heart nurture anger; They do not call for help when He binds them.
- NLT For the godless are full of resentment. Even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help.
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
The godless in heart store up anger and do not cry for help even when God binds them. Hardened hearts refuse to seek God in affliction.
Overview
Elihu describes the truly godless: instead of turning to God under affliction, they harbor resentment and refuse to call for help. Their suffering hardens rather than humbles them. This contrasts the proud heart with the penitent one, illustrating that the same affliction can soften or harden, and that only God's grace, fully given in Christ, turns a heart of stone to flesh (Ezek. 36:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rom 2:5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
- Job 36:8If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
- Job 27:8–10For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Job 15:4Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.
- 2 Chr 28:13and said to them, “You must not bring in the captives here, for you intend that which will bring on us a trespass against Yahweh, to add to our sins and to our guilt; for our gulit is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.”
- Num 32:14“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel.
- Job 35:9–10“By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
- Ps 107:10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
- Matt 22:12–13and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.
- 2 Chr 28:22In the time of his distress, he trespassed yet more against Yahweh, this same king Ahaz.
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 36:13 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.