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Thursday, July 31st, 2025
the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Job 21:31

So who will confront him with his ways? Who will repay him for what he has done?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Pride;   Wicked (People);  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Suffering;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Wealth;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Who would denounce his behavior to his face?Who would repay him for what he has done?
Hebrew Names Version
Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?
King James Version
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
English Standard Version
Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done?
New Century Version
Who will accuse them to their faces? Who will pay them back for the evil they have done?
New English Translation
No one denounces his conduct to his face; no one repays him for what he has done.
Amplified Bible
"But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face, And who will repay him for what he has done?
New American Standard Bible
"Who confronts him with his actions, And who repays him for what he has done?
World English Bible
Who shall declare his way to his face? Who shall repay him what he has done?
Geneva Bible (1587)
Who shal declare his way to his face? & who shal reward him for that he hath done?
Legacy Standard Bible
Who will declare to his face about his actions,And who will repay him for what he has done?
Berean Standard Bible
Who will denounce his behavior to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done?
Contemporary English Version
No one points out their sin or punishes them.
Darby Translation
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Easy-to-Read Version
No one criticizes them to their faces for how they lived. No one punishes them for the evil they have done.
George Lamsa Translation
Who can show him the way? And who shall repay him for what he has done?
Good News Translation
There is no one to accuse the wicked or pay them back for all they have done.
Lexham English Bible
Who denounces his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
Literal Translation
Who shall declare his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Who darre reproue him for his wayes to his face? who rewardeth him for the vngraciousnesse that he doth?
American Standard Version
Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
Bible in Basic English
Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
But who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
King James Version (1611)
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Who dare declare his way to his face? who wil rewarde him for that he doth?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Who will tell him his way to his face, whereas he has done it? who shall recompense him?
English Revised Version
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Who schal repreue hise weies bifor hym? and who schal yelde to hym tho thingis, whiche he hath doon?
Update Bible Version
Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he has done?
Webster's Bible Translation
Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him [what] he hath done?
New King James Version
Who condemns his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
New Living Translation
No one criticizes them openly or pays them back for what they have done.
New Life Bible
Who will talk to him about his way to his face? And who will punish him for what he has done?
New Revised Standard
Who declares their way to their face, and who repays them for what they have done?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Who can declare - to his face - his way? And, what, he, hath done, who shall recompense to him?
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
Revised Standard Version
Who declares his way to his face, and who requites him for what he has done?
Young's Literal Translation
Who doth declare to his face his way? And [for] that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Who will confront him with his actions, And who will repay him for what he has done?

Contextual Overview

27 "Look, I know what you are thinking and your plans to do me wrong. 28 You ask, ‘Where is the great man's house? Where is the tent where the wicked once lived?' 29 Haven't you ever questioned travelers? Don't you accept their testimony 30 that the evil man is saved on the day of disaster, rescued on the day of wrath? 31 So who will confront him with his ways? Who will repay him for what he has done? 32 For he is carried off to the grave, people keep watch over his tomb, 33 the clods of the valley are sweet to him; so everyone follows his example, just as before him were countless others. 34 "Why offer me such meaningless comfort? Of your answers, only the perfidy remains."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

declare: 2 Samuel 12:7-12, 1 Kings 21:19-24, Psalms 50:21, Jeremiah 2:33-35, Mark 6:18, Acts 24:25, Galatians 2:11

repay: Job 21:19, Job 41:11, Deuteronomy 7:10, Isaiah 59:13, Romans 12:19, James 2:13

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 21:7 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 21:14
Avraham got up early in the morning, took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child; then he sent her away. After leaving, she wandered in the desert around Be'er-Sheva.
Genesis 26:23
(iv) From there Yitz'chak went up to Be'er-Sheva.
Genesis 26:33
So he called it Shiv‘ah [oath, seven], and for this reason the name of the city is Be'er-Sheva [well of seven, well of an oath] to this day.
Joshua 15:28
Hatzar-Shu‘al, Be'er-Sheva, Bizyot-Yah,
Judges 20:1
All the people of Isra'el came out, from Dan to Be'er-sheva, including Gil‘ad; the community assembled with one accord before Adonai at Mitzpah.
2 Samuel 17:11
Rather, I advise that you summon all Isra'el to come to you, from Dan to Be'er-Sheva, numbering as many as sand grains on the seashore; and then you go to battle, yourself.
1 Kings 4:25
King Shlomo was king over all Isra'el, and these were his high officials: ‘Azaryah the son of Tzadok, the cohen; Elichoref and Achiyah the sons of Shisha, secretaries; Y'hoshafat the son of Achilud, secretary of state; B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada, commander of the army; Tzadok and Evyatar, cohanim; ‘Azaryah the son of Natan, chief administrator; Zavud the son of Natan, the king's trusted counselor; Achishar, in charge of the palace; Adoniram the son of ‘Avda, in charge of forced labor. Shlomo had twelve officers over all Isra'el who were in charge of providing food and supplies for the king and his household; each one was in charge of provisions for one month out of the year. They were: the son of Hur, in the hills of Efrayim; the son of Deker, in Makatz, Sha‘albim, Beit-Shemesh and Eilon-Beit-Hanan; the son of Hesed, in Arubot; he also had charge of Sokhoh and all the territory of Hefer; the son of Avinadav, in all the area of Dor; he had Tafat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife; Ba‘ana the son of Achilud, in Ta‘anakh, Megiddo, and all Beit-Sh'an by Tzartan below Yizre‘el, from Beit-Sh'an to Avel-M'cholah, as far as beyond Yokme‘am; the son of Gever, in Ramot-Gil‘ad; he was in charge of the villages of Ya'ir the son of M'nasheh in Gil‘ad and in charge of the region of Argov in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars; Achinadav the son of ‘Iddo, in Machanayim; Achima‘atz, in Naftali; he also took Basmat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife; Ba‘ana the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Alot; Y'hoshafat the son of Paruach, in Yissakhar; Shim‘i the son of Ela, in Binyamin; and Gever the son of Uri, in the land of Gil‘ad, the country of Sichon king of the Emori and ‘Og king of Bashan. Over all these, there was one administrator in the land. Y'hudah and Isra'el were as numerous as sand grains on the seashore; they ate, drank and enjoyed themselves.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Who shall declare his way to his face?.... Jarchi and Aben Ezra think that Job here returns to God, and speaks of him, as in

Job 21:22; signifying that no man can or ought to presume to charge the ways of God in his providence with inequality or injustice, in sparing the wicked now, and reserving them to wrath and destruction hereafter; since he is a sovereign Being, and does what he pleases, and none can hinder him, nor ought any to say to him, what dost thou? nor does he give an account of his matters to the children of men; but this respects the wicked man, and describes his state and condition in this life, as being possessed of such wealth and riches, and living in such grandeur and splendour, and advanced to such places of honour and glory, as to be above the reproof of men; though his way, his course of life, is a very wicked one, and he ought to be told to his face the evil of his way, and the danger he is exposed to by it, and what will be the sad consequence of it; his relations and friends, his neighbours and acquaintance, should labour to convince him of his evil, and reprove him to his face, and endeavour to reclaim him from it; but how few are there that have courage and faithfulness enough to do this, since they are sure to incur his displeasure and hatred, and run the risk of their lives, as John the Baptist lost his for his faithfulness in reproving Herod to his face, for taking to him his brother Philip's wife? Matthew 14:3;

and who shall repay him [what] he hath done? bring him to an account for his crimes, and to just punishment for them; who will venture to bring a charge against him, or enter an action at law, bring him before a court of judicature, and prosecute him, and get judgment passed upon him? as such a man is above all reproof for his sins, he is out of the reach of punishment for them; he lives with impunity, none can punish him but God; and being lifted up with his greatness, he neither fears God nor regards man.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who shall declare his way to his face? - That is, the face of the wicked. Who shall dare to rise up and openly charge him with his guilt? The idea is, that none would dare to do it, and that, therefore, the wicked man was not punished according to his character here, and was reserved to a day of future wrath.

And who shall repay him what he hath done? - The meaning is, that many wicked people lived without being punished for their sins. No one was able to recompense them for the evil which they had done, and consequently they lived in security and prosperity. Such were the tyrants and conquerors, who had made the world desolate.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 21:31. Who shall declare his way to his face? — But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared.


 
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