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Job 29:11-17

For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:

Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,

the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know.

I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:

    Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,

    the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

    I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

    I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

    I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know.

    I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

  • KJV King James Version

    When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

    Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

    The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

    I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

    I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

    I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

    And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me;

    Because I delivered the poor that cried, the fatherless also, that had none to help him.

    The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

    I put on righteousness, and it clothed itself with me; my justice was as a robe and a diadem.

    I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

    I was a father to the needy; and the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.

    And I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

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Cross-references (65)

  • Isaiah 61:10 (v14) I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me…
  • Isaiah 59:17 (v14) He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad…
  • Psalms 72:12 (v12) For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.
  • Psalms 132:9 (v14) Let your priests be clothed with righteousness. Let your saints shout for joy!”
  • Proverbs 21:13 (v12) Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
Show all 61 cross-references
  • Proverbs 29:7 (v16) The righteous care about justice for the poor. The wicked aren’t concerned about knowledge.
  • Numbers 10:31 (v15) Moses said, “Don’t leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes.
  • Psalms 3:7 (v17) Arise, Yahweh! Save me, my God! For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
  • Ephesians 6:14 (v14) Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
  • Job 27:6 (v14) I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live.
  • Proverbs 30:14 (v17) There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among…
  • Luke 4:22 (v11) All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
  • Revelation 19:8 (v14) It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
  • Psalms 68:5 (vv12, 16) A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
  • James 1:27 (vv12, 16) Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself…
  • Exodus 22:22-24 (v12) “You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will…
  • Isaiah 62:3 (v14) You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh‘s hand, and a royal diadem in your God’s hand.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:7 (v14) in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:8 (v14) But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
  • Deuteronomy 24:13 (vv13–14) You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be…
  • Job 24:4 (vv12, 16) They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
  • Deuteronomy 10:18 (v12) He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
  • 1 Samuel 17:35 (v17) I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him,…
  • Esther 2:7 (v16) He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful;…
  • Job 22:9 (v13) You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
  • Job 31:18 (v16) (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);
  • Job 31:19-20 (v13) if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering; if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed…
  • Job 31:20 (v11) if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;
  • Psalms 58:8 (v17) Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
  • Psalms 82:2-4 (v12) “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights…
  • Psalms 124:6 (v17) Blessed be Yahweh, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.
  • Proverbs 24:11-12 (v12) Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter! If you say, “Behold, we didn’t…
  • Proverbs 25:2 (v16) It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
  • Proverbs 29:2 (v11) When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
  • Isaiah 27:13 (v13) It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who…
  • Matthew 11:5 (v15) the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news…
  • 2 Timothy 1:16-18 (v13) May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome,…
  • Philemon 1:7 (v13) For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
  • Exodus 18:26 (v16) They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
  • Deuteronomy 13:14 (v16) then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among…
  • Deuteronomy 16:11 (v13) You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within…
  • Deuteronomy 17:8-10 (v16) If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…
  • Deuteronomy 26:5 (v13) You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “My father was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in…
  • 1 Kings 3:16-28 (v16) Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one…
  • Nehemiah 5:2-13 (v12) For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.” There were also some…
  • Nehemiah 8:10-12 (v13) Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy…
  • Job 22:5-9 (v12) Isn’t your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities. For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and…
  • Job 31:17 (v12) or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
  • Job 31:21 (v12) if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
  • Psalms 67:4 (v13) Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth.
  • Psalms 124:3 (v17) then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
  • Proverbs 31:6-9 (v13) Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish, and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his…
  • Isaiah 65:14 (v13) Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit.
  • Jeremiah 22:16 (v12) He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so it was well, then. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh.
  • Acts 9:39-41 (v13) Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing…
  • Romans 13:14 (v14) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (v15) For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one…
  • 2 Corinthians 9:12-14 (v13) For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to…
  • Ephesians 5:1 (v16) Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.
  • Isaiah 28:5 (v14) In that day, Yahweh of Armies will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people,
  • Luke 11:27 (v11) It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb…

61 distinct cross-references across this passage (65 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (18 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11–14 All that heard me, praised me.

All that heard me, praised me.

Testifying, that I did good justice.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–17 Job 29:11 When the ear heard [me], then it…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–17 It blessed me, i.e. pronounced me to be a…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–17 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me,....…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11, 14 Witness - Gave testimony to my pious, and just,…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 15, 16, 17 Verse 11. When the ear heard me] This and…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 14, 15, 17 Job 29:11-12. When the ear heard me, then it…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–17 When the ear heard me. - A personification for…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11, 16, 17 Gave. Septuagint, "winked," through approbation. (Calmet)
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–17 blessed--extolled my virtues (Pro 31:28). Omit "me" after "heard";…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14, 16, 17 Second strophe — This prosperity rested on the solid…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 11. This verse may read,
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 14 (11) When the ear heard me, then it blessed…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–17 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me.…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12–16 Because I delivered the poor that cried.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v12 Job Speaks of his Benevolence and the Honor Accorded…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 14, 17 after their ears heard me ... after their eyes…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16 29:14 Job described his righteousness in royal terms. A…
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