Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place.
- KJV Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
- NKJV Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place.
- NASB “Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him, And trample down the wicked where they stand.
- NLT Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.
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 repeats the challenge: let Job humble the proud and crush the wicked where they stand. Such sovereign judgment is beyond any mere man.
Overview
Reinforcing the previous verse, God calls Job to subdue the proud and tread down the wicked, if he is able. The repetition drives home Job's inability to administer cosmic justice. God alone can perfectly humble evil and vindicate the right. This prepares Job to rest in God's governance and points ahead to the final judgment, when Christ will set all things right.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 63:3“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.
- Mal 4:3Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Isa 13:11I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
- Eccl 11:3If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
- Job 36:20Do not long for the night, when people vanish from their homes.
- Zech 10:5They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Acts 1:25to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”
- Ps 60:12With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.
- 1 Sam 2:7The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- Prov 15:25The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.
- Rom 16:20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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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 40:12 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.