Bible Strands
Job 21:16
Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three friends, countering their assertion that the wicked always suffer immediate retribution. He observes that the wicked' prosperity is not self-sustained, which leads him to deliberately distance himself from their counsel.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא (lo') and רָחֲקָה (ra-chakah) carry the verse's core action, translating literally to "not" and "it is far." These terms establish that the wicked' wealth is externally controlled and that the speaker maintains a strict boundary from their advice.
The thread — This boundary motif recurs in Job 22:18, Psalms 1:1, and Genesis 49:6, where refusing to join the wicked' counsel or assembly is consistently linked to moral preservation and divine alignment.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to recognize that temporary success does not validate ungodly counsel, and to actively separate from advice that operates outside divine sovereignty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Cross-references
- Job 22:18 But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.
- Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Genesis 49:6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
- Psalms 49:6 They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Psalms 52:5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
- Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them.
- Job 1:21 saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- Job 12:9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
- Proverbs 5:8 Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.