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Monday, July 14th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Easy-to-Read Version

Job 34:20

Any of us can die suddenly, in the middle of the night. Anyone can get sick and pass away. Even powerful people die for no reason we can see.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Death;   God;   The Topic Concordance - Death;   Favoritism;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Nations;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Midnight;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Gamaliel Ii;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They die suddenly in the middle of the night;people shudder, then pass away.Even the mighty are removed without effort.
Hebrew Names Version
In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, The mighty are taken away without hand.
King James Version
In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
English Standard Version
In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
New Century Version
They can die in a moment, in the middle of the night. They are struck down, and then they pass away; powerful people die without help.
New English Translation
In a moment they die, in the middle of the night, people are shaken and they pass away. The mighty are removed effortlessly.
Amplified Bible
"In a moment they die, even at midnight The people are shaken and pass away, And the powerful are taken away without a [human] hand.
New American Standard Bible
"In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the powerful are taken away without a hand.
World English Bible
In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, The mighty are taken away without hand.
Geneva Bible (1587)
They shall die suddenly, and the people shalbe troubled at midnight, & they shall passe foorth and take away the mightie without hand.
Legacy Standard Bible
In a moment they die, and at midnightPeople are shaken and pass away,And the mighty are taken away without a hand.
Berean Standard Bible
They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
Contemporary English Version
Even powerful rulers die in the darkness of night when they least expect it, just like the rest of us.
Complete Jewish Bible
They may die in a moment, in the middle of the night — the people are shaken and pass away, the mighty are removed without human hands.
Darby Translation
In a moment they die, even at midnight the people are convulsed and pass away; and the strong are taken away without hand.
George Lamsa Translation
In a moment shall he die, and he shall be consumed at midnight, and pass away; he will be rendered powerless by the Almighty.
Good News Translation
We may suddenly die at night. God strikes us down and we perish; he kills the mighty with no effort at all.
Lexham English Bible
In a moment they die, and in the middle of the night the people are shaken, and they pass away, and they take away the mighty effortlessly.
Literal Translation
In a moment they die, and a people are shaken at midnight; yea, they pass away, and the mighty will be taken without a hand.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
In the twincklinge off an eye shall they be slayne: and at mydnight, when the people & the tyrauntes rage, then shal they perish, ad be taken awaye with out hondes.
American Standard Version
In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without hand.
Bible in Basic English
Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
In a moment they die, even at midnight;
King James Version (1611)
In a moment shall they die, and the people shalbe troubled at midnight, and passe away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
In the twinckling of an eye shall they dye, and at midnight when the people and the tirantes rage, then shall they perishe, & be taken away without handes.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But it shall turn out vanity to them, to cry and beseech a man; for they dealt unlawfully, the poor being turned aside from their right.
English Revised Version
In a moment they die, even at midnight; the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away without hand.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei schulen die sudeynli, and at mydnyyt puplis schulen be troblid, `ethir schulen be bowid, as othere bookis han; and schulen passe, and schulen take `awei `a violent man with out hond.
Update Bible Version
In a moment they die, even at midnight; The people are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a [human] hand.
Webster's Bible Translation
In a moment they shall die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.
New King James Version
In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; The people are shaken and pass away; The mighty are taken away without a hand.
New Living Translation
In a moment they die. In the middle of the night they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
New Life Bible
In a short time they die. At midnight the people are shaken and pass away. And the powerful are taken away by no human hand.
New Revised Standard
In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
In a moment, they die, even in the middle of the night, - A people are convulsed when they pass away, A mighty one is removed, without hand;
Douay-Rheims Bible
They shall suddenly die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and they shall pass, and take away the violent without hand.
Revised Standard Version
In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
Young's Literal Translation
[In] a moment they die, and at midnight Shake do people, and they pass away, And they remove the mighty without hand.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

Contextual Overview

16 "If you men are wise, you will listen to what I say. 17 Can someone be a ruler if he hates justice? Job, God is not only powerful, but he is fair. Do you think you can judge him guilty? 18 God is the one who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!' He says to leaders, ‘You are evil!' 19 He does not respect leaders more than other people. And he does not respect the rich more than the poor. God made everyone. 20 Any of us can die suddenly, in the middle of the night. Anyone can get sick and pass away. Even powerful people die for no reason we can see. 21 "God watches what people do. He sees every step they take. 22 There is no place dark enough for evil people to hide from God. 23 God does not need to set a time for people to come before him and be judged. 24 He does not have to ask questions when people do wrong, even if they are powerful leaders. He simply destroys them and chooses others to take their place. 25 When he learns what people have done, he defeats them, and overnight they are gone.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a moment: Psalms 73:19, Isaiah 30:13, Isaiah 37:38, Daniel 5:30, Luke 12:20, Acts 12:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 2:3

troubled: Exodus 12:29, Exodus 12:30, Isaiah 37:36, Matthew 25:6, Luke 17:26-29

the mighty shall be taken away: Heb. they shall take away the mighty

without: 1 Samuel 25:37-39, 1 Samuel 26:10, Isaiah 10:16-19, Isaiah 30:30-33, Daniel 2:34, Daniel 2:44, Daniel 2:45, Zechariah 4:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 11:4 - About Exodus 14:24 - and troubled Exodus 33:5 - in a moment Job 34:25 - in the Job 36:19 - nor all Isaiah 40:23 - General Daniel 8:25 - but 1 Corinthians 1:28 - to bring Revelation 6:15 - the kings

Cross-References

Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies.
Genesis 23:10
Ephron was sitting there among the people. He answered Abraham,
Deuteronomy 17:5
you must punish the person who did this evil thing. You must take that man or woman out to a public place near the city gates and kill them with stones.
Ruth 4:1
Boaz went to the place where people gather near the city gates. He sat there until the close relative he had told Ruth about passed by. Boaz called to him, "Come and sit here, friend."
2 Samuel 15:2
Absalom would get up early and stand near the gate. He would watch for anyone with problems who was going to King David for judgment. Then Absalom would talk to them and say, "What city are you from?" They would say they were from such and such tribe in Israel.
Job 29:7
"Those were the days when I went to the city gate and sat in the public meeting of the elders.
Proverbs 31:23
Her husband is a respected member of the city council, where he meets with the other leaders.
Amos 5:10
You hate those prophets, who go to public places and speak against evil, even though they teach good, simple truths.
Amos 5:12
This is because I know about your many sins. You have done some very bad things: You hurt people who do right, you accept money to do wrong, and you keep the poor from receiving justice in court.
Amos 5:15
Hate evil and love goodness. Bring justice back into the courts. Maybe then the Lord God All-Powerful will be kind to the survivors from Joseph's family.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In a moment shall they die,.... Princes as well as the common people, rich men as well as poor; all must and do die, great and small, high and low, kings and peasants, rich and poor men, and sometimes suddenly; are struck dead at once, and without any previous notice, that night, that hour, that moment their souls are required of them. The Targum interprets this of the men of Sodom. And Mr. Broughton, in his margin, refers to the history of them in Genesis 19:1;

and the people shall be troubled at midnight; either the common people, when their kings and governors die; or the relations and friends of persons deceased; and this circumstance "at midnight" is added, which makes the scene more melancholy, awful, and shocking, when it happens at such a time. The above Targum understands it of the Egyptians, when their firstborn were slain, which was in the middle of the night; and Mr. Broughton refers in his margin to the same instance: but it is a question whether this affair ever came to the knowledge of Job and his friends, at least not so early as this controversy;

and pass away; not into another country, being taken and carried away captive; but pass away by death into their graves, and into another world. Sephorno interprets it of the destroying angel's passing over the tents of the Israelites, and not entering into them to smite them when they smote the firstborn of Egypt. But the former sense is best, see Psalms 37:36;

and the mighty shall be taken away without hand: without the hand of men, but by the immediate hand of God; not falling in battle, or in a common natural way by diseases, but by some judgment of God upon them: and the whole verse seems to be understood not of a natural death, or in the common way, but of sudden death in a way of judgment, from the immediate hand of God, and that upon the mighty and great men of the earth; which shows that he is no respecter of princes, see Daniel 8:25.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In a moment shall they die - That is, the rich and the great. They pass suddenly off the stage of action. They have no power to compel God to favor them, and they have no permanency of existence here which can constitute a claim on his special favor. Soon they will lie undistinguished in the dust. All are in his hand; and when he wills it, they must lie down in the dust together. He exempts none from death; spares none on account of beauty, rank, wealth, talent, or learning, but consigns all indiscriminately to the grave-showing that he is disposed to treat them all alike. This is urged by Elihu as a proof that God has no partiality, but treats all people as being on the same level - and there is no more striking illustration of this than is furnished by death. All die. None are spared on account of title, wealth, rank, beauty, age, or wisdom. All die in a manner that shows that he has no favoritism. The rich man may die with a malady as painful and protracted as the poor man; the beautiful and accomplished with a disease as foul and loathsome as the beggar. The sad change that the body undergoes in the tomb is as repulsive in the one case as in the other; and amidst all the splendor of rank, and the magnificence of dress and equipage, God intends to keep the great truth before the minds of people, that they are really on a level, and that all must share at his hand alike.

And the people shall be troubled - They shall be shaken, agitated, alarmed. They dread impending danger, or the prospect of sudden destruction.

At midnight - The image here is probably taken from an earthquake, or from a sudden onset made by a band of robbers on a village at night. The essential thought is that of the suddenness with which God can take away the mighty and the mean together. Nothing can resist him, and as he has this absolute control over people, and deals with all alike, there is great impropriety in complaining of his government.

And the mighty - Margin, “They shall take away the mighty.” The idea is, that the great shall be removed - to wit, by sudden death or by overwhelming calamiiy. The argueat of Elihu in this passage Job 34:18-20 is, that it would be esteemed great presumption to arraign the conduct of a prince or king, and it must be much more so to call in question the doings of him who is so superior to princes and kings that he shows them no partiality on account of their rank, but sweeps them away by sudden calamity as he does the most humble of mankind.

Without hand - That is, without any human instrumentality, or without the use of any visible means. It is by a word - by an expression of his will - by power where the agency is not seen. The design is, to show that God can do it with infinite ease.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 34:20. In a moment shall they die — Both are equally dependent on the Almighty for their breath and being; the mighty as well as the poor. If the great men of the earth have abused their power, he sometimes cuts them off by the most sudden and unexpected death; and even at midnight, when in security, and least capable of defence, they are cut off by the people whom they have oppressed, or by the invisible hand of the angel of death. This appears to be spoken in reference to Eastern tyrants, who seldom die a natural death.


 
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