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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Job 37:3

He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;his lightning to the ends of the earth.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Lightning;   Religion;   Thompson Chain Reference - Lightning;   Meteorology;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nature, Natural;   Testimony;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Lightning;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Deluge of Noah, the;   Earth, Corners of the;   End;   Lightning;   World (Cosmological);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Providence;   Suspended Letters;   Symbol;   Thunder;   West;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He sends it forth under the whole sky, And his lightning to the ends of the eretz.
King James Version
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
English Standard Version
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
New Century Version
He turns his lightning loose under the whole sky and sends it to the farthest parts of the earth.
New English Translation
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, even his lightning to the far corners of the earth.
Amplified Bible
"He lets it loose under the whole heaven, And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
New American Standard Bible
"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning travels to the ends of the earth.
World English Bible
He sends it forth under the whole sky, And his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his light vnto the endes of the world.
Legacy Standard Bible
Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
Contemporary English Version
and when I see his lightning flash across the sky.
Complete Jewish Bible
He sends it out under all of heaven, his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Darby Translation
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Easy-to-Read Version
He sends his lightning to flash across the whole sky. It lights up the earth from one end to the other.
George Lamsa Translation
Under the whole of heaven the people shall praise him, and his light shines upon the ends of the earth.
Good News Translation
He sends the lightning across the sky, from one end of the earth to the other.
Lexham English Bible
He lets it loose under all the heavens, and his lightning to the earth's corners.
Literal Translation
He lets it loose under the whole heavens, and His lightning to the wings of the earth.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He gouerneth euery thinge vnder the heauen, and his light reacheth vnto the ende of the worlde.
American Standard Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, And his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Bible in Basic English
He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and His lightning unto the ends of the earth.
King James Version (1611)
Hee directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his lightning vnto the ends of the earth.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his light vnto the endes of the worlde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
His dominion is under the whole heaven, and his light is at the extremities of the earth.
English Revised Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He biholdith ouere alle heuenes; and his liyt is ouere the termes of erthe.
Update Bible Version
He sends it forth under the whole heaven, And his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Webster's Bible Translation
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.
New King James Version
He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of the earth.
New Living Translation
It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.
New Life Bible
He lets it loose under the whole heaven. He lets His lightning go to the ends of the earth.
New Revised Standard
Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Under the whole heavens, he letteth it loose, His lightning also, unto the wings of the earth;
Douay-Rheims Bible
He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the ends of the earth.
Revised Standard Version
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
Young's Literal Translation
Under the whole heavens He directeth it, And its light [is] over the skirts of the earth.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth.

Contextual Overview

1My heart pounds at this 2Just listen to his thunderous voiceand the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;his lightning to the ends of the earth.4Then there comes a roaring sound;God thunders with his majestic voice.He does not restrain the lightningwhen his rumbling voice is heard. 5God thunders wondrously with his voice;he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

He: Psalms 77:13, Psalms 97:4, Matthew 24:27, Revelation 11:19

lightning: Heb. light

ends: Heb. wings, Job 38:13, Isaiah 11:12, *marg.

Reciprocal: Job 28:26 - a way Job 38:25 - General Psalms 29:7 - flames Luke 17:24 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 37:13
Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.”
Genesis 37:14
Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
Genesis 37:20
So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
Genesis 37:22
Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.
Genesis 37:23
When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the robe of many colors that he had on.
Genesis 37:30
He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”
Genesis 37:32
They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?”
Judges 5:30
“Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior,the spoil of colored garments for Sisera,the spoil of an embroidered garment or two for my neck?”
2 Samuel 13:18
Amnon’s servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved garment, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.
Ezekiel 16:16
You took some of your clothing and made colorful high places for yourself, and you engaged in prostitution on them. These places should not have been built, and this should never have happened!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He directeth it under the whole heaven,.... His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny x atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isaiah 5:6, are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;

and his lightning unto the ends of the earth: it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, Matthew 24:27; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.

x Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He directeth it under the whole heaven - It is under the control of God, and he directs it where he pleases. It is not confined to one spot, but seems to be complaining from every part of the heavens.

And his lightning - Margin, as in Hebrew “light.” There can be no doubt that the lightning is intended.

Unto the ends of the earth - Margin, as in Hebrew “wings.” The word wings is given to the earth from the idea of its being spread out or expanded like the wings of a bird; compare Job 38:13; Ezekiel 7:2. The earth was spoken of as an expanse or plain that had corners or boundaries (see Isaiah 11:12, note; Isaiah 24:16, note; Isaiah 42:5, note), and the meaning here is, that God spread the lightning at pleasure over the whole of that vast expanse.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 37:3. He directeth it under the whole heaven — He directeth it (the lightning) under the whole heaven, in the twinkling of an eye from east to west; and its light-the reflection of the flash, not the lightning, unto the ends of the earth, so that a whole hemisphere seems to see it at the same instant.


 
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