Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
Parallel translations
- WEB Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him. Crush the wicked in their place.
- BSB Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.
- 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 63:3I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
- Mal 4:3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Isa 13:11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
- Eccl 11:3If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
- Job 36:20Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.
- Zech 10:5And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
- Acts 1:25That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.
- Ps 60:12Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
- 1 Sam 2:7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
- Prov 15:25The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.
- Rom 16:20And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
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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.