Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
Parallel translations
- WEB According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.
- BSB As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- NKJV Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
- NASB “According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.
- NLT My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
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
Eliphaz asserts that those who sow trouble reap it. He insists suffering reflects one's wrongdoing.
Overview
Drawing on observation, Eliphaz claims that people who plow iniquity harvest the same, applying a sowing-and-reaping logic to Job's plight. While there is truth that sin has consequences, his blanket application wrongly assumes Job's suffering proves his sin. The book corrects this oversimplified view of how God governs the righteous and the wicked.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gal 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Prov 22:8He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
- Hos 8:7For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.
- Hos 10:12–13Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
- Job 15:35They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
- Jer 4:18Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
- 2 Cor 9:6But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
- Ps 7:14–16Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
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 4:8 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.