The caravans that travel beside them turn aside. They go up into the waste, and perish.
Parallel translations
- KJV The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
- BSB Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish.
- NKJV The paths of their way turn aside, They go nowhere and perish.
- NASB “The paths of their course wind along, They go up into wasteland and perish.
- NLT The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die.
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
Caravans turn aside seeking the water, go up into the wasteland, and perish. It depicts travelers led to ruin by relying on the dried-up stream.
Overview
Job describes caravans diverting their route in hope of water from the brook, only to wander into the wasteland and die. The image dramatizes the deadly cost of trusting an unreliable source. It warns against placing ultimate hope in what cannot save, and commends instead the God who never leads the trusting astray but, in Christ, guides his people safely through the wilderness.
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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 6:18 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
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