Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 26th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Job 21:18

and blow them away like straw in the wind, or like dust carried away in a storm?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Chaff;   Death;   Stubble;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Chaff;   Righteous-Wicked;   Stubble;   Wicked, the;   The Topic Concordance - Wickedness;   Wrath;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Wicked, the, Are Compared to;   Wind, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Greatness of God;   Hypocrisy;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Agriculture;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Numbers, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Wealth;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Chaff;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Agriculture;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Chaff;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Chaff;   Stubble;   Tempest;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Chaff;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Are they like straw before the wind,like chaff a storm sweeps away?
Hebrew Names Version
That they are as stubble before the wind, As chaff that the storm carries away?
King James Version
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
English Standard Version
That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
New Century Version
How often are they like straw in the wind or like chaff that is blown away by a storm?
New English Translation
How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
Amplified Bible
"Are they like straw before the wind, And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?
New American Standard Bible
"Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away?
World English Bible
That they are as stubble before the wind, As chaff that the storm carries away?
Geneva Bible (1587)
They shall be as stubble before the winde, and as chaffe that the storme carieth away.
Legacy Standard Bible
Are they as straw before the wind,And like chaff which the storm steals away?
Berean Standard Bible
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
Contemporary English Version
How often does he strike them like a windstorm that scatters straw?
Complete Jewish Bible
to make them like straw in the wind, like chaff carried off by a storm?
Darby Translation
Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
Easy-to-Read Version
Does God blow them away, as the wind blows straw or as strong winds blow the grain husks?
George Lamsa Translation
They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away.
Lexham English Bible
How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
Literal Translation
they are as straw before the wind, and as chaff that the tempest steals away.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee they shal be euen as chaffe before the wynde, and as dust that the storme carieth awaye.
American Standard Version
That they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
Bible in Basic English
How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
That they are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm stealeth away?
King James Version (1611)
They are as stubble before the winde, and as chaffe that the storme carieth away.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yea, they shalbe euen as hay before the winde, and as chaffe that the storme carieth away.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they shall be as chaff before the wind, or as dust which the storm has taken up.
English Revised Version
That they are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei schulen be as chaffis bifor the face of the wynd; and as a deed sparcle, whiche the whirlewynd scaterith abrood.
Update Bible Version
That they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carries away?
Webster's Bible Translation
They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
New King James Version
They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.
New Living Translation
Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all!
New Life Bible
Are they like straw blown by the wind? Are they like straw that the storm carries away?
New Revised Standard
How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
They become as straw before the wind, and as chaff, which the storm stealeth away.
Douay-Rheims Bible
They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth.
Revised Standard Version
That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?
Young's Literal Translation
They are as straw before wind, And as chaff a hurricane hath stolen away,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away?

Contextual Overview

17 Was a wicked person's light ever put out? Did one of them ever meet with disaster? Did God ever punish the wicked in anger 18 and blow them away like straw in the wind, or like dust carried away in a storm? 19 You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father. No! Let God punish the sinners themselves; let him show that he does it because of their sins. 20 Let sinners bear their own punishment; let them feel the wrath of Almighty God. 21 When our lives are over, do we really care whether our children are happy? 22 Can anyone teach God, who judges even those in high places? 23Some people stay healthy till the day they die; they die happy and at ease, their bodies well-nourished. < 25 Others have no happiness at all; they live and die with bitter hearts. 26 But all alike die and are buried; they all are covered with worms.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as stubble: Job 13:25, Exodus 15:7, Psalms 1:4, Psalms 35:5, Psalms 83:13, Isaiah 5:24, Isaiah 17:13, Isaiah 29:5, Isaiah 40:24, Isaiah 41:15, Isaiah 41:16, Jeremiah 13:24, Hosea 13:3, Nahum 1:10, Matthew 3:12

carrieth: Heb. stealeth

Reciprocal: Job 27:20 - a tempest Job 30:22 - liftest me Ecclesiastes 8:10 - so Isaiah 57:13 - but the Zephaniah 2:2 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 16:10
Then he said, "I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.
Genesis 17:20
I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants.
Genesis 21:12
But God said to Abraham, "Don't be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised.
Genesis 21:13
I will also give many children to the son of the slave woman, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son."
Genesis 21:18
Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants."
Genesis 21:29
and Abimelech asked him, "Why did you do that?"
Genesis 21:31
And so the place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them made a vow.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They are as stubble before the wind,.... Or how oft "are they as stubble?" c. or how oft does God do the above things, "so that they are", or "become, as stubble before the wind" u,

and as chaff that the storm carrieth, or "steals away" x? hastily, suddenly, at an unawares like a thief: wicked men are comparable to stubble and chaff for the vanity of their minds, their emptiness of all good things; for their lightness, the levity and inconstancy of their hearts, their principles and practices; for their uselessness and unprofitableness to God and men, to themselves and their fellow creatures; for their being fit fuel for everlasting burnings, their end like these being to be burned; and whose destruction is inevitable and irresistible, and can no more be withstood and prevented than stubble and chaff can stand before a strong wind and a stormy tempest: but is this their common case now? are they usually tossed to and fro with the wind of adversity, and the storms of desolating judgments? are they not, on the other hand, seen in great power, and spreading themselves like a green bay tree; taking root, increasing in outward prosperity, and bringing forth the fruit of it? see Psalms 37:35.

u יהיו כתבן "ut sint velut palea", Tigurine version; so Broughton, "quoties sunt", Junius Tremellius "quoties fiunt", Piscator, Michaelis. x גנבתו "furatus est eam", Montanus; "suffuratur", Vatablus; "furatur", Drusius, Cocceius, Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They are as stubble before the wind - According to the interpretation proposed of the previous verse, this may be read as a question, “How often is it that the wicked are made like stubble? You say that God deals with people exactly according to their characters, and that the wicked are certainly subjected to calamities; but how often does this, in fact, occur? Is it a uniform law? Do they not, in fact, live in prosperity, and arrive at a good old age?” It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare the wicked with stubble, and to affirm that they shall be driven away, as the chaff is driven by the wind; see the notes at Isaiah 17:13.

The storm carrieth away - Margin, “stealeth away.” This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The idea is that of stealing away before one is aware, as a thief carries off spoil.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 21:18. They are as stubble before the wind — "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the chaff which the wind driveth away." Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psalms 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and borne off as booty is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile