Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Job 35:7

And if you are good, that does not help God. He gets nothing from you.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   Man;   Self-Righteousness;  

Dictionaries:

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

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - God;   God, Children of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If you are righteous, what do you give him,or what does he receive from your hand?
Hebrew Names Version
If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
King James Version
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
English Standard Version
If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
New Century Version
If you are good, you give nothing to God; he receives nothing from your hand.
New English Translation
If you are righteous, what do you give to God, or what does he receive from your hand?
Amplified Bible
"If you are righteous, what do you give God, Or what does He receive from your hand?
New American Standard Bible
"If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?
World English Bible
If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
Geneva Bible (1587)
If thou be righteous, what giuest thou vnto him? or what receiueth he at thine hand?
Legacy Standard Bible
If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,Or what does He receive from your hand?
Berean Standard Bible
If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?
Contemporary English Version
Is any good you may have done at all helpful to him?
Complete Jewish Bible
If you are righteous, what do you give him? What benefit does he get from you?
Darby Translation
If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? or what doth he receive of thy hand?
George Lamsa Translation
If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
Good News Translation
Do you help God by being so righteous? There is nothing God needs from you.
Lexham English Bible
If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?
Literal Translation
If you are righteous, what do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf thou be rightuous, what geuest thou him? Or, what receaueth he of thy handes?
American Standard Version
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? Or what receiveth he of thy hand?
Bible in Basic English
If you are upright, what do you give to him? or what does he take from your hand?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? Or what receiveth He of thy hand?
King James Version (1611)
If thou be righteous, what giuest thou him? or what receiueth hee of thine hand?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
If thou be righteous, what geuest thou him? or what wyll he receaue of thyne hande?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And suppose thou art righteous, what wilt thou give him? or what shall he receive of thy hand?
English Revised Version
If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Certis if thou doist iustli, what schalt thou yyue to hym; ether what schal he take of thin hond?
Update Bible Version
If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive of your hand?
Webster's Bible Translation
If thou art righteous, what givest thou to him? or what receiveth he from thy hand?
New King James Version
If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?
New Living Translation
If you are good, is this some great gift to him? What could you possibly give him?
New Life Bible
If you are right and good, what do you give to Him? What does He receive from you?
New Revised Standard
If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If thou art righteous, what canst thou give unto him? Or what, at thy hand, can he accept?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what shall he receive of thy hand?
Revised Standard Version
If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand?
Young's Literal Translation
If thou hast been righteous, What dost thou give to Him? Or what from thy hand doth He receive?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, Or what does He receive from your hand?

Contextual Overview

1 Elihu continued talking and said, 2 "Job, it is not fair for you to say, ‘I am more right than God,' 3 because you also ask him, ‘What's the use of trying to please you? What good will it do me if I don't sin?' 4 "Job, I want to answer you and your friends here with you. 5 Look up at the sky. Look at the clouds, which are so much higher than you. 6 If you sin, it does not hurt God. Even if your sins are too many to count, that does nothing to God. 7 And if you are good, that does not help God. He gets nothing from you. 8 Job, the good and bad things you do affect only other people like yourself.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Job 22:2, Job 22:3, 1 Chronicles 29:14, Psalms 16:2, Proverbs 9:12, Romans 11:35

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 6:24 - for our good Job 41:11 - Who Luke 17:10 - General Acts 17:25 - is Titus 3:8 - good

Cross-References

Genesis 28:13
And then Jacob saw the Lord standing by the ladder. He said, "I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. I will give you the land that you are lying on now. I will give this land to you and to your children.
Genesis 28:19
The name of that place was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.
Genesis 28:22
I am setting this stone up as a memorial stone. It will show that this is a holy place for God, and I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me."
Genesis 35:1
God said to Jacob, "Go to the town of Bethel. That is where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau. Live there and make an altar to honor me as El, the God who appeared to you."
Genesis 35:3
We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to the God who has always helped me during times of trouble. He has been with me wherever I have gone."
Genesis 35:4
So the people gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and they gave him all the rings they were wearing in their ears. He buried everything under an oak tree near the town called Shechem.
Genesis 35:5
Then Jacob and his sons left that place. The people in the surrounding cities wanted to follow and kill them, but God filled them with such great fear that they did not go after them.
Exodus 17:15
Then Moses built an altar and named it, "The Lord is My Flag."
Judges 6:24
So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord and named it "The Lord is Peace." It still stands in the city of Ophrah, where the Abiezer family lives.
Ezekiel 48:35
"The distance around the city will be 18,000 cubits. From now on, the name of the city will be the lord is there ."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?.... All righteousness is of God that any creatures have. What the angels in heaven have, or Adam had in a state of innocence; or what believers in Christ have in and from him; his righteousness imputed to them is of God; the grace of righteousness, or holiness, imparted to them and implanted in them, is from him; and it is under the influence of his Spirit, and by his grace and strength, they do works of righteousness externally; and therefore can give nothing to him of their own, nor does he need any, being God all sufficient; even the goodness of his Son does not extend to him, but to the saints, Psalms 16:2; much less any goodness of theirs: their best works of righteousness are due to him, and not gifts; and though they may contribute to his manifestative glory, both in them that do them and in others that see them, they can add nothing to the essential glory of God;

or what receiveth he of thine hand? He can receive nothing but what he has given, or what he has a prior right to and is his due, and so cannot be laid under any obligation to man by what he does; nor can man merit anything at his hand, not even the least temporal mercy, and much less spiritual ones and everlasting life: and what notice God is pleased to take of the good works of men, in away of reward, is not of debt, but of grace, and entirely owing to his goodness; and does not arise from any intrinsic worth in them, or from any advantage to him by them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? - The same sentiment substantially as in the previous verses. It is, that God is supreme and independent. He does not desire such benefits from the services of his friends and is not so dependent on them; as to be induced to interpose in their favor, in any way beyond what is strictly proper. It is to be presumed, therefore, that he will deal with them according to what is right, and as it is right that they should experience proofs of his favor, it followed that there “would be” advantage in serving him, and in being delivered from sin; that it “would be” better to be holy than to lead a life of transgression. This reasoning seems to be somewhat abstract, but it is correct, and is as sound now as it was in the time of Elihu. There is no reason why God should not treat people according to their character. He is not so under obligations to his friends, and has not such cause to dread his foes; he does not derive so much benefit from the one, or receive such injury from the other, that he is under any inducement to swerve from strict justice; and it follows, therefore, that where there ought to be reward there will be, where there ought to be punishment there will be, and consequently that there is an advantage in being righteous.


 
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