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Monday, October 28th, 2024
the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Job 24:12

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God Continued...;   Homicide;   Wicked (People);  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Justice;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Fool;   Groan;   Lay;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.
English Revised Version
From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God imputeth it not for folly.
Update Bible Version
From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded cries out: Yet God does not regard the folly.
New Century Version
Dying people groan in the city, and the injured cry out for help, but God accuses no one of doing wrong.
New English Translation
From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Webster's Bible Translation
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].
World English Bible
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, Yet God doesn't regard the folly.
Amplified Bible
"From the [populous and crowded] city men groan, And the souls of the wounded cry out for help; Yet God [seemingly] does not pay attention to the wrong [done to them].
English Standard Version
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei maden men of citees to weile, and the soulis of woundid men schulen crye; and God suffrith it not to go awei vnpunyschid.
Berean Standard Bible
From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
Contemporary English Version
And along the city streets, the wounded and dying cry out, yet God does nothing.
American Standard Version
From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly.
Bible in Basic English
From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.
Complete Jewish Bible
Men are groaning in the city, the mortally wounded are crying for help, yet God finds nothing amiss!
Darby Translation
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; and +God imputeth not the impiety.
Easy-to-Read Version
In the city you can hear the sad sounds of dying people. Those who are hurt cry out for help, but God does not listen.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded crieth out;
King James Version (1611)
Men groane from out of the city, and the soule of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
New Life Bible
Men from the city cry inside themselves. The souls of those who are hurt cry out. Yet God does not listen to their prayer.
New Revised Standard
From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Men cry out of the citie, and the soules of the slayne cry out: yet God doth not charge them with follie.
George Lamsa Translation
From the midst of the city the oppressed groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out; yet God does not accept their prayer.
Good News Translation
In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Out of the city - out of the houses, they make outcry. and, the soul of the wounded, calleth for help, and, GOD, doth not regard it as foolish.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged.
Revised Standard Version
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Men out of the citie crye vnto the Lord with sighing, the soules of the slayne also crye out, yet God regardeth not their complaynt.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Who have cast forth the poor from the city and their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud.
Christian Standard Bible®
From the city, men groan;the mortally wounded cry for help,yet God pays no attention to this crime.
Hebrew Names Version
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, Yet God doesn't regard the folly.
Lexham English Bible
From the city people groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God does not regard it as unseemly.
Literal Translation
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God does not charge unseemliness.
Young's Literal Translation
Because of enmity men do groan, And the soul of pierced ones doth cry, And God doth not give praise.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The whole cite crieth vnto the LORDE with sighinge, the soules of the slayne make their complaynte: But God destroyeth them not for all this,
New American Standard Bible
"From the city people groan, And the souls of the wounded cry for help; Yet God does not pay attention to the offensiveness.
New King James Version
The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"From the city men groan, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to folly.
Legacy Standard Bible
From the city men groan,And the souls of the wounded cry out;Yet God does not pay attention to such offense.

Contextual Overview

1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? 2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. 3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. 5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. 6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. 7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. 9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. 10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

groan: Exodus 1:13, Exodus 1:14, Exodus 2:23, Exodus 2:24, Exodus 22:27, Judges 10:16, Psalms 12:5, Ecclesiastes 4:1, Isaiah 52:5

wounded: Psalms 69:26, Psalms 109:22

yet God: Psalms 50:21, Ecclesiastes 8:11, Ecclesiastes 8:12, Malachi 2:17, Malachi 3:15, Romans 2:4, Romans 2:5, 2 Peter 3:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:10 - crieth Job 34:28 - they Job 35:9 - they make Psalms 102:20 - To hear Ezekiel 30:24 - he shall Colossians 4:1 - give

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Genesis 24:7
The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
Genesis 24:8
And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
Genesis 24:10
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
Genesis 24:11
And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
Genesis 24:16
And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
Genesis 24:17
And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
Genesis 24:27
And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren.
Genesis 24:42
And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
Genesis 24:48
And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord , and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Men groan from out of the city,.... Because of the oppressions and injuries done to them, so that not only the poor in the country that were employed in the fields, and oliveyards, and vineyards, were used exceeding ill; but even in cities, where not only are an abundance of people, and so the outrages committed upon them, which made them groan, were done openly and publicly, with great insolence and impudence, but where also courts of judicature were held, and yet in defiance of law and justice were those evils done, see Ecclesiastes 3:16;

and the soul of the wounded crieth out; that is, the persons wounded with the sword, or any other instrument of vengeance, stabbed as they went along the public streets of the city, where they fell, these cried out vehemently as such persons do; so audacious, as well as barbarous, were these wicked men, that insulted and abused them:

yet God layeth not folly [to them]; it is for the sake of this observation that the whole above account is given of wicked men, as well as what follows; that though they are guilty of such atrocious crimes, such inhumanity, cruelty, and oppression in town and country, unheard of, unparalleled, iniquities, sins to be punished by a judge, yet are suffered of God to pass with impunity. By "folly" is meant sin, not lesser sins only, little, foolish, trifling things, but greater and grosser ones, such as before expressed; all sin is folly, being the breach of a law which is holy, just, and good, and exposes to its penalty and curse; and against God the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; and as it is harmful and prejudicial, either to the characters, bodies, or estates of men, and especially to their immortal souls; and yet God that charges his angels with folly did not charge these men with it; that is, he seemed, in the outward dealings of his providence towards them, as if he took no notice of their sins, but connived at them, or took no account of them, and did not take any methods in his providence to show their folly, and convince them of it, nor discover it to others, and make them public examples, did not punish them, but let them go on in them without control; and this Job observes, in order to prove his point, that wicked men are not always punished in this life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Men groan from out of the city - The evident meaning of this is, that the sorrows caused by oppression were not confined to the deserts and to solitary places; were not seen only where the wandering freebooter seized upon the traveler, or in the comparatively unfrequented places in the country where the poor were compelled to labor in the wine presses and the olive presses of others, but that they extended to cities also. In what way this oppression in cities was practiced, Job does not specify. It might be by the sudden descent upon an unsuspecting city, of hordes of freebooters, who robbed and murdered the inhabitants, and then fled, or it might be by internal oppression, as of the rich ever the poor, or of masters over their slaves. The idea which Job seems to wish to convey is, that oppression abounded. The earth was full of violence. It was in every place, in the city and the country, and yet God did not in fact come forth to meet and punish the oppressor as he deserved. There would be instances of oppression and cruelty enough occurring in all cities to justify all that Job here says, especially in ancient times, when cities were under the control of tyrants. The word which is translated “men” here is מתים mathı̂ym, which is not the usual term to denote men. This word is derived from מוּת mûth, “to die”; and hence, there may be here the notion of “mortals,” or of the “dying,” who utter these groans.

And the soul of the wounded crieth out - This expression appears as if Job referred to some acts of violence done by robbers, and perhaps the whole description is intended to apply to the sufferings caused by the sudden descent of a band of marauders upon the unsuspection and slumbering inhabitants of a city.

Yet God layeth not folly to them - The word rendered “folly” תפלה tı̂phlâh means “folly”; and thence also wickedness. If this reading is to be retained, the passage means that God does not lay to heart, that is, does not regard their folly or wickedness. He suffers it to pass without punishing it; compare Acts 17:30. But the same word, by a change of the points, תפלה tephı̂llâh, means “prayer;” and many have supposed that it means, that God does not regard the prayer or cry of those who are thus oppressed. This, in itself, would make good sense, but the former rendering agrees better with the connection. The object of Job is not to show that God does not regard the cry of the afflicted, but that he does not interpose to punish those who are tyrants and oppressors.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 24:12. Men groan from out of the city — This is a new paragraph. After having shown the oppressions carried on in the country, he takes a view of those carried on in the town. Here the miseries are too numerous to be detailed. The poor in such places are often in the most wretched state; they are not only badly fed, and miserably clothed, but also most unwholesomely lodged. I was once appointed with a benevolent gentleman, J. S., Esq., to visit a district in St. Giles's London, to know the real state of the poor. We took the district in House Row, and found each dwelling full of people, dirt, and wretchedness. Neither old nor young had the appearance of health: some were sick, and others lying dead, in the same place! Several beds, if they might be called such, on the floor in the same apartment; and, in one single house, sixty souls! These were groaning under various evils; and the soul of the wounded, wounded in spirit, and afflicted in body, cried out to God and man for help! It would have required no subtle investigation to have traced all these miseries to the doors, the hands, the lips, and the hearts, of ruthless landlords; or to oppressive systems of public expenditure in the support of ruinous wars, and the stagnation of trade and destruction of commerce occasioned by them: to which must be added the enormous taxation to meet this expenditure.

Yet God layeth not folly to them. — He does not impute their calamities to their own folly. Or, according to the Vulgate, Et Deus inultum abire non patitur; "And God will not leave (these disorders) unpunished." But the Hebrew may be translated And God doth not attend to their prayers. Job's object was to show, in opposition to the mistaken doctrine of his friends, that God did not hastily punish every evil work, nor reward every good one. That vice often went long unpunished, and virtue unrewarded; and that we must not judge of a man's state either by his prosperity or adversity. Therefore, there might be cases in which the innocent oppressed poor were crying to God for a redress of their grievances, and were not immediately heard; and in which their oppressors were faring sumptuously every day, without any apparent mark of the Divine displeasure. These sentiments occur frequently.


 
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