Lectionary Calendar
Friday, August 29th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Job 34:30

But still, he punishes rulers who abuse their people.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   Hypocrisy;   Sin;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Hypocrites;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Job, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hypocrisy;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Godless;   Hypocrisy;   Reign;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
so that godless men should not ruleor ensnare the people.
Hebrew Names Version
That the godless man may not reign, That there be no one to ensnare the people.
King James Version
That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.
English Standard Version
that a godless man should not reign, that he should not ensnare the people.
New Century Version
He keeps the wicked from ruling and from trapping others.
New English Translation
so that the godless man should not rule, and not lay snares for the people.
Amplified Bible
"So that godless men would not rule Nor be snares for the people.
New American Standard Bible
"So that godless people would not rule, Nor be snares for the people.
World English Bible
That the godless man may not reign, That there be no one to ensnare the people.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Because the hypocrite doeth reigne, and because the people are snared.
Legacy Standard Bible
So that godless men would not ruleNor be snares of the people.
Berean Standard Bible
that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.
Complete Jewish Bible
so that godless men will not become kings, and the people will not be lured into traps.
Darby Translation
That the ungodly man reign not, that the people be not ensnared.
Easy-to-Read Version
He keeps the wicked from ruling so that they will not bring harm to the people.
George Lamsa Translation
He sees to it that an impious and wicked man shall not reign over the people.
Good News Translation
There would be nothing that nations could do to keep godless oppressors from ruling them.
Lexham English Bible
so that godless human beings should not reign, nor those who ensnare the people.
Literal Translation
from the reigning of ungodly men, from being snares for the people.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For the wickednesse & synne of ye people, he maketh an ypocrite to reigne ouer the.
American Standard Version
That the godless man reign not, That there be none to ensnare the people.
Bible in Basic English
Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
That the godless man reign not, that there be none to ensnare the people.
King James Version (1611)
That the hypocrite raigne not, lest the people be ensnared.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Because the hypocrite doth raigne, because the people are snared.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
causing a hypocrite to be king, because of the waywardness of the people.
English Revised Version
That the godless man reign not, that there be none to ensnare the people.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which makith `a man ypocrite to regne, for the synnes of the puple.
Update Bible Version
He makes king [the] godless man from among the seducers of the people.
Webster's Bible Translation
That the hypocrite may not reign, lest the people should be ensnared.
New King James Version
That the hypocrite should not reign, Lest the people be ensnared.
New Living Translation
He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to the people.
New Life Bible
So men without God should not rule and should not be a trap for the people.
New Revised Standard
so that the godless should not reign, or those who ensnare the people.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
That impious men may not reign, nor be ensnarers of the people.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people?
Revised Standard Version
that a godless man should not reign, that he should not ensnare the people.
Young's Literal Translation
From the reigning of a profane man, From the snares of a people;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So that godless men would not rule Nor be snares of the people.

Contextual Overview

16 So be smart and listen! 17 The mighty God is the one who brings about justice, and you are condemning him. 18 Indeed, God is the one who condemns unfair rulers. 19 And God created us all; he has no favorites, whether rich or poor. 20 Even powerful rulers die in the darkness of night when they least expect it, just like the rest of us. 21 God watches everything we do. 22 No evil person can hide in the deepest darkness. 23 And so, God doesn't need to set a time for judgment. 24 Without asking for advice, God removes mighty leaders and puts others in their place. 25 He knows what they are like, and he wipes them out in the middle of the night.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Job 34:21, 1 Kings 12:28-30, 2 Kings 21:9, Psalms 12:8, Ecclesiastes 9:18, Hosea 5:11, Hosea 13:11, Micah 6:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:4-11, Revelation 13:3, Revelation 13:4, Revelation 13:11-14

Reciprocal: Job 17:8 - stir up Proverbs 11:9 - An hypocrite Luke 13:15 - Thou hypocrite

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others.
Genesis 12:12
When the Egyptians see how lovely you are, they will murder me because I am your husband. But they won't kill you.
Genesis 34:5
Meanwhile, Jacob heard what had happened. But his sons were out in the fields with the cattle, so he did not do anything at the time.
Genesis 34:7
just as Jacob's sons were coming in from work. When they learned that their sister had been raped, they became furiously angry. Nothing is more disgraceful than rape, and it should not be tolerated in Israel.
Genesis 34:13
Jacob's sons wanted to get even with Shechem and his father because of what had happened to their sister.
Genesis 34:14
So they tricked them by saying: You're not circumcised! It would be a disgrace for us to let you marry Dinah now.
Genesis 34:18
Hamor and Shechem liked what was said.
Genesis 34:20
The two men met with the other leaders of their city and told them:
Genesis 46:27
Jacob's two grandsons who were born there made it a total of seventy members of Jacob's family in Egypt.
Exodus 5:21
Then the men said, "We hope the Lord will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

That the hypocrite reign not,.... These words seem to be connected with Job 34:24, "he breaketh in pieces mighty men", c. the whole of Job 34:29 being read in a parenthesis or with the phrase "he hideth his face"; as God is said to be in the destruction of mighty wicked men, who oppress the poor, and cause their cry to come to God, to prevent the reign of an hypocrite, or however to shorten it. By "an hypocrite" is not meant a common hypocrite in religion, but an hypocrite in politics; who pretends to great humanity and goodness, to a tender care of the people, and a preservation of them in their rights and liberties, and promises to support and establish the constitution, and observe the laws of the nation, with a show of zeal for the religion professed in it. But when he has ascended the throne, and got the power into his hands, he throws off the mask and becomes a tyrant; and men of such a temper, either God does not suffer to ascend the throne, but if they do get on it through artifice and deceit, he suffers them not to continue, but deposes them, and cuts their reign short: and this he does

lest the people be ensnared; be brought into bondage, and lose their rights, privileges, and liberties; or lest they be drawn into sin by their precepts or examples. Some take the sense of the words to be, that God suffers not such to reign, but when he does it is because of the offences or sins of the people; he gives them such kings in his wrath, to punish them for their iniquities.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That the hypocrite reign not - All this is done to prevent wicked men from ruling over the people. The remarks of Elihu had had respect much to princes and kings, and he had shown that however great they were, they were in the hands of God, and were wholly at his disposal. He “now” says that the design of his dealings with them was to prevent their oppressing their fellow-men. The general scope of the remarks of Elihu is, that God is the universal Sovereign; that he has all people under his control, and that there are none so powerful as to be able to resist his will. The remark in this verse is thrown in, not as illustrating this general sentiment, but to show what was “in fact” the aim for which he thus interposed - to save people from being oppressed and crushed by those in authority.

Lest the people be ensnared - Hebrew “From their being snarers of the people.” He thrusts down the mighty, in order that they may not be left to take the people as wild beasts are taken in the toils. They were disposed to make use of their power to oppress others, but God interposes, and the people are saved. For a fuller view of this verse, see the remarks of Rosenmuller.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 34:30. That the hypocrite reign not — The Vulgate translates, Who causes a wicked man to reign because of the sins of the people. This was precisely the defense which Hegiage, the oppressive ruler of the Babylonian Irak, under the caliph Abdul Malec, made when he found the people in a state of insurrection. See at the end of the chapter. Job 34:37.


 
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