Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!
- KJV Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
- NKJV Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
- NASB “Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!
- NLT Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
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 tells Job to brace himself like a man, for now God will ask the questions and Job must answer. The roles are reversed: the would-be plaintiff becomes the one examined.
Overview
Job had wanted to question God; now God summons Job to stand and be questioned instead. The challenge is firm yet not cruel, treating Job as a responsible person who must reckon with his Maker. This reversal frames the whole divine speech and ultimately leads Job to repentance and restoration.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 40:7“Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
- Jer 1:17Get yourself ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them, or I will terrify you before them.
- Exod 12:11This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.
- 1 Kgs 18:46And the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah, and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
- 1 Pet 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Job 23:3–7If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.
- Job 31:35–37(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
- Job 13:22Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.
- Job 13:15Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
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 38:3 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.