For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.
Parallel translations
- WEB For by these he judges the people. He gives food in abundance.
- KJV For by them judgeth he the people; he giveth meat in abundance.
- NKJV For by these He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance.
- NASB “For by them He judges peoples; He gives food in abundance.
- NLT By these mighty acts he nourishes the people, giving them food in abundance.
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
By these works God both judges the peoples and gives food in abundance. The same power that judges also generously provides.
Overview
Elihu observes that God uses the forces of nature both to execute judgment and to supply abundant food. Storms and rain can chastise or bless, showing that God's governance serves both justice and mercy. This dual purpose reflects God's character, who is both the righteous Judge and the bountiful Provider, supremely seen in Christ who bore judgment to give us the bread of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 136:25He gives food to every creature. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Acts 14:17Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Job 37:13Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.
- Ps 104:13–15He waters the mountains from His chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of His works.
- Ps 65:9–13You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
- Ps 104:27–28All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
- Job 38:26–27to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
- Exod 9:23–25So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- 1 Sam 12:18So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
- 1 Sam 2:10Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
- Deut 8:15He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Josh 10:11As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.
- 1 Sam 7:10As the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel.
- Job 38:22–23Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
- Gen 7:17–24For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
- Gen 6:17And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
- Deut 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Gen 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 36:31 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.