“Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you 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.
- BSB Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.
- NKJV Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer 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 will answer me.
- Jer 1:17“You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.
- Exod 12:11This is how you shall eat it: with your belt on your waist, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover.
- 1 Kgs 18:46Yahweh’s hand was on Elijah; and he tucked his cloak into his belt and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
- 1 Pet 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ —
- Job 23:3–7Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
- Job 31:35–37oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
- Job 13:22Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you answer me.
- Job 13:15Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
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.