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Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Job 30:26

Yet when I hoped for good, what came was bad; when I expected light, what came was darkness.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Colors;   Thompson Chain Reference - Dark Days;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Light;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Light;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But when I hoped for good, evil came;when I looked for light, darkness came.
Hebrew Names Version
When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.
King James Version
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
English Standard Version
But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came.
New Century Version
But when I hoped for good, only evil came to me; when I looked for light, darkness came.
New English Translation
But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came.
Amplified Bible
"When I expected good, then came evil [to me]; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
New American Standard Bible
"When I expected good, evil came; When I waited for light, darkness came.
World English Bible
When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Yet when I looked for good, euill came vnto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkenesse.
Legacy Standard Bible
When I hoped for good, then evil came;When I waited for light, then thick darkness came.
Berean Standard Bible
But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
Contemporary English Version
But when I beg for relief and light, all I receive are disaster and darkness.
Darby Translation
For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.
Easy-to-Read Version
But when I hoped for good, trouble came instead. When I looked for light, darkness came.
George Lamsa Translation
But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Good News Translation
I hoped for happiness and light, but trouble and darkness came instead.
Lexham English Bible
Indeed, I hoped for good, but evil came, and I waited for light, but darkness came.
Literal Translation
When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, then darkness came.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yet neuerthelesse where as I loked for good, euell happened vnto me: and where as I waited for light, there came darcknesse.
American Standard Version
When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Bible in Basic English
For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Yet, when I looked for good, there came evil; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
King James Version (1611)
When I looked for good, then euill came vnto mee: and when I waited for light, there came darkenes.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yet neuerthelesse, where as I loked for good, euyll came vnto me: & where I wayted for light, there came darkenesse.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But I, when I waited for good things, behold, days of evils came the more upon me.
English Revised Version
When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y abood goodis, and yuelis ben comun to me; Y abood liyt, and derknessis braken out.
Update Bible Version
When I looked for good, then evil came; And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Webster's Bible Translation
When I looked for good, then evil came: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
New King James Version
But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
New Living Translation
So I looked for good, but evil came instead. I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
New Life Bible
When I expected good, then trouble came. When I waited for light, darkness came.
New Revised Standard
But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Surely, for good, I looked, but there came in evil, And I waited for light, but there came in darkness;
Douay-Rheims Bible
I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out.
Revised Standard Version
But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.
Young's Literal Translation
When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.

Contextual Overview

15 Terrors tumble over me, chasing my honor away like the wind; my [hope of] salvation passes like a cloud. 16 "So now my life is ebbing away, days of grief have seized me. 17 At night pain pierces me to the bone, so that I never rest. 18 My clothes are disfigured by the force [of my disease]; they choke me like the collar of my coat. 19 [God] has thrown me into the mud; I have become like dust and ashes. 20 "I call out to you [God], but you don't answer me; I stand up to plead, but you just look at me. 21 You have turned cruelly against me; with your powerful hand you keep persecuting me. 22 You snatch me up on the wind and make me ride it; you toss me about in the tempest. 23 For I know that you will bring me to death, the house assigned to everyone living. 24 "Surely [God] wouldn't strike at a ruin, if in one's calamity one cried out to him for help.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

When I looked: Job 3:25, Job 3:26, Job 29:18, Jeremiah 8:15, Jeremiah 14:19, Jeremiah 15:18, Micah 1:12

light: Job 18:6, Job 18:18, Job 23:17, Psalms 97:11, Isaiah 50:10

Reciprocal: Job 3:9 - look for light Psalms 30:7 - thou Psalms 42:9 - why go Isaiah 59:9 - we wait Lamentations 3:2 - brought

Cross-References

Genesis 29:30
So not only did Ya‘akov go in and sleep with Rachel, but he also loved Rachel more than Le'ah. Then he served Lavan another seven years.
Genesis 30:19
Le'ah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Ya‘akov.
Genesis 30:20
Le'ah said, "God has given me a wonderful gift. Now at last my husband will live with me, since I have borne him six sons." And she called him Z'vulun [living together].
Genesis 30:29
Ya‘akov replied, "You know how faithfully I have served you and how your livestock have prospered under my care.
Genesis 30:30
The few you had before I came have increased substantially; Adonai has blessed you wherever I went. But now, when will I provide for my own household?"
Genesis 30:38
Then he set the rods he had peeled upright in the watering troughs, so that the animals would see them when they came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,
Genesis 30:41
Whenever the hardier animals came into heat, Ya‘akov would set up the rods in the watering troughs; so that the animals would see them and conceive in front of them;
Genesis 31:6
You know that I have served your father with all my strength,
Genesis 31:26
Lavan said to Ya‘akov, "What do you mean by deceiving me and carrying off my daughters as if they were captives taken in war?
Genesis 31:31
Ya‘akov answered Lavan, "Because I was afraid. I said, ‘Suppose you take your daughters away from me by force?'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

When I looked for good,.... As he thought he might reasonably expect it, since he had shown such a sympathizing spirit to persons in trouble, and such pity and mercy to the poor: in the time of his prosperity, he looked for a continuance of the good things he enjoyed, and expected to have had them for many years to come, and to have died in the possession of them, Job 29:18; and even in his adversity, though he had received evil things at the hand of God, which he took patiently; yet at first he did not think they would always continue, but that there would be a turn of affairs, and he should again receive good at his hands; and he had been looking for it, as good men have reason to expect it; since God is good and does good, and especially to his own people, and has laid up goodness for them that fear him, and such an one Job was; and has promised good things unto them, both temporal and spiritual; for godliness and godly men have the promise of this life, and of that which is to come: but Job was disappointed in his expectation; for, says he,

then evil came [unto me], the evil of affliction, one upon the back of another, even when in the height of his prosperity; and since repeated evil, new afflictions, came upon him by the appointment, order, and direction of God:

and when I waited for light; for the light of outward prosperity, such as he had formerly enjoyed; and for the light of God's countenance, which he most earnestly sought after, and longed for, and was in a waiting posture for it, as good men have reason to be; since light is sown for them in the purposes and decrees of God, in his counsel and covenant, in his Gospel, and the promises of it; and therefore should wait for the springing of it up, as the husbandman does for the springing up of the corn sown in the earth, and lying under the clods; and seeing that to the upright there arises light in darkness; and though God hides his face from them, for a moment, he will have mercy on them, and therefore should wait his time to be gracious to them; but Job had waited long, and, as he thought, to no purpose: for

there came darkness; the darkness of adversity, still thicker and darker, and no appearance of spiritual light and favour, or any discoveries of the love of God to him, or enjoyment of his presence; see Jeremiah 8:15.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When I looked for good - When I supposed that respect would be shown me; or when I looked forward to an honored old age. I expected to be made happy and prosperous through life, as the result of my uprightness and benevolence; but, instead of that, calamity came and swept all my comforts away. He experienced the instability which most people are called to experience, and the divine dealings with him showed that no reliance could be placed on confident plans of happiness in this life.


 
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