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Job 21:17-21
The Voice
Job 21:17-21
The Voice
17 Bildad claims the flame of the wicked is blown out.
But how often is their lamp extinguished?
How often does disaster strike them or does God give them pain
because of His anger at what they’ve done?
Throughout the Bible, God is called by many names. One of the most frequent in the Old Testament, Shaddai, was a favorite name of God for patriarchs such as Abraham and Moses. Based on the etymology of the name, many suggest Abraham brought that epithet with him from Mesopotamia, so it is logical that Job (another patriarch from outside of Israel) could often refer to Him the same way.
El Shaddai, which translates to “God of my mountain” or possibly “God of might,” aptly describes many characteristics of God. He is strong and high above everything, just like the heights of a mountain. He is a protector, just like the rocky crags in the side of a cliff. And certainly God associates Himself with mountain ranges—having Abraham bind Isaac on Mount Moriah, giving the Israelites the law from Mount Sinai, and placing His sacred temple on Mount Zion. Whether speaking to humanity from the top of a mountain or the heights of heaven, the Lord is certainly the Highest One; no one is above Him.
18 How often are they as straw in the wind
or the chaff separated from the grain by fierce winds?
19 It is said, “God stores away a man’s misdeeds
and delivers them to his children.”[a]
Let Him repay the man Himself, so the man can know it.
20 Let the wicked see his ruin with his own eyes
as he drinks down the wrath of the Highest One.
21 After all, once he’s dead and gone and his time is up,
what will he care for his household and family?
Footnotes
Job 21:17-21
New International Version
Job 21:17-21
New International Version
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?(A)
How often does calamity(B) come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?(C)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff(D) swept away(E) by a gale?(F)
19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’(G)
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!(H)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;(I)
let them drink(J) the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.(K)
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind(L)
when their allotted months(M) come to an end?(N)
Job 21:17-21
King James Version
Job 21:17-21
King James Version
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
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The Voice (VOICE)
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.