Job 27:12
New International Version
You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

New Living Translation
But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.

English Standard Version
Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

Berean Standard Bible
Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?

King James Bible
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

New King James Version
Surely all of you have seen it; Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

New American Standard Bible
“Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you talk of nothing?

NASB 1995
“Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you act foolishly?

NASB 1977
“Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you act foolishly?

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you speak with utter vanity?

Amplified Bible
“Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?

Christian Standard Bible
All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

American Standard Version
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain?

Contemporary English Version
All of you have seen these things for yourselves. So you have no excuse.

English Revised Version
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye become altogether vain?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Certainly, you have all seen it. Why then do you chatter on about such nonsense?

Good News Translation
But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves; so why do you talk such nonsense?

International Standard Version
Look! All of you have been watching, so why have you become so completely worthless?

Majority Standard Bible
Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?

NET Bible
If you yourselves have all seen this, Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?

New Heart English Bible
Look, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

World English Bible
Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Behold, you—all of you—have seen, "" And why [is] this—you are altogether vain?

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, ye -- all of you -- have seen, And why is this -- ye are altogether vain?

Smith's Literal Translation
Behold, all ye yourselves saw; and wherefore this, will ye breathe out vanity?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things without cause?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Behold, you know all this, and so why do you speak vain things without a reason?

New American Bible
Look, you yourselves have all seen it; why do you spend yourselves in empty words!

New Revised Standard Version
All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Behold, all of you have seen it; why then do you boast in vain?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Behold, all of you have seen, and why are you magnifying yourselves for nothing?
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Behold, ye all know that ye are adding vanity to vanity.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Wicked Man's Portion
11I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty. 12Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk? 13This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.…

Cross References
Psalm 37:35-36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree, / yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

Proverbs 10:27-30
The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short. / The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish. / The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil. ...

Ecclesiastes 8:12-13
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence. / Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

Psalm 73:18-20
Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. / How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors! / Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.

Isaiah 57:20-21
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. / “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Jeremiah 12:1-2
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? / You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their hearts.

Ezekiel 18:24
But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

Malachi 3:15-18
So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’” / At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name. / “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. ...

Matthew 7:26-27
But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. / The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

Luke 12:20-21
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ / This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

Romans 1:18-21
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. / For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. / For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. ...

1 Corinthians 3:19-20
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” / And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, / and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels / in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ...

2 Peter 2:20-22
If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. / It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. / Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Jude 1:10-13
These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively. / Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion. / These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted. ...


Treasury of Scripture

Behold, all you yourselves have seen it; why then are you thus altogether vain?

ye yourselves

Job 21:28-30
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? …

Ecclesiastes 8:14
There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-3
For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them…

altogether

Job 6:25-29
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? …

Job 13:4-9
But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value…

Job 16:3
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

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Job 27
1. Job protests his sincerity
8. The hypocrite is without hope
11. The blessings which the wicked have are turned into curses














Behold
The Hebrew word here is "הִנֵּה" (hinneh), which is often used to draw attention to something significant. It serves as a call to the audience to pay close attention to what follows. In the context of Job, it underscores the importance of the observation he is about to make, urging his friends to consider the evidence of their own experiences and the truths they have witnessed.

all of you have seen it for yourselves
This phrase emphasizes personal experience and observation. The Hebrew root "רָאָה" (ra'ah) means "to see" or "to perceive." Job is appealing to the firsthand knowledge of his friends, suggesting that they have witnessed the same realities of life and suffering that he has. Historically, this reflects the communal nature of wisdom in ancient times, where shared experiences were crucial in forming understanding and beliefs.

why then do you keep up this empty talk?
The phrase "empty talk" is translated from the Hebrew "הֶבֶל" (hebel), which can mean "vain," "futile," or "meaningless." This word is famously used in Ecclesiastes to describe the fleeting and elusive nature of worldly pursuits. Job is challenging his friends' arguments, which he perceives as lacking substance and truth. In the broader scriptural context, this critique aligns with the biblical theme of seeking wisdom and truth over superficial or misguided reasoning.

(12) Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it.--That is, "You have seen me so proclaim the great power of God."

Verse 12. - Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it. The true Divine scheme of action has been so long and so frequently made manifest - openly set forth in the sight o! men - that Job cannot believe that those whom he addresses are ignorant of it. They must themselves have seen the scheme at work. Why then are ye thus altogether vain? Why, then, do they not draw true inferences from the facts that come under their notice?

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Surely
הֵן־ (hên-)
Interjection
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

all of you
כֻּלְּכֶ֣ם (kul·lə·ḵem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

have seen [it]
חֲזִיתֶ֑ם (ḥă·zî·ṯem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 2372: To gaze at, to perceive, contemplate, to have a, vision of

for yourselves.
אַתֶּ֣ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

Why then
וְלָמָּה־ (wə·lām·māh-)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

do you keep up this
זֶּ֝֗ה (zeh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

empty talk?
הֶ֣בֶל (he·ḇel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1892: Emptiness, vanity, transitory, unsatisfactory


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OT Poetry: Job 27:12 Behold all of you have seen it (Jb)
Job 27:11
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