which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?
Parallel translations
- WEB which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
- KJV Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
- NKJV Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?
- NASB Which I have reserved for a time of distress, For a day of war and battle?
- NLT (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)
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
God reserves the hail for times of trouble, battle, and war. Even weather can serve as an instrument of his judgment.
Overview
The LORD reveals that he holds back the hail for days of conflict, using nature itself in his purposes. Scripture records such storms in battle (Joshua 10:11). The verse shows that creation is not neutral but a servant of God's sovereign rule over history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 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.
- Isa 30:30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
- Exod 9:18Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
- Ezek 13:11–13tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.
- Rev 16:21And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
- Job 36:13The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.
- Matt 7:27The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
- Job 36:31For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.
- Exod 9:24The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation.
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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 38:23 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.