Bible Strands
Job 21:2
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be your consolation to me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three friends during their ongoing debate over his suffering. He issues this command immediately after they question his previous statements and just before he permits them to resume their mockery.
The words — The Hebrew שִׁמְעוּ (shim.'U) commands "listen," reinforced by שָׁמוֹעַ (Sha.mo.a') indicating a complete or thorough hearing of מִלָּתִי (mi.la.T/i), "my words."
The thread — This call to attentive hearing parallels the warning in Hebrews 2:1 to pay closer attention to what has been heard, while Job’s insistence mirrors his earlier desire to argue his case directly before God in Job 13:3.
Why it lands — The text demands that listeners suspend their judgments and fully process Job’s speech before drawing conclusions. It requires readers to treat attentive listening as a necessary discipline rather than a passive reception of information.
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
Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 2:1 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Judges 9:7 When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you.
- Job 13:3 Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
- Job 15:11 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
- Job 16:2 “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.
- Job 18:2 “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.
- Job 33:1 “But now, O Job, hear my speech, and listen to all my words.
- Job 33:31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.
- Job 34:2 “Hear my words, O wise men; give ear to me, O men of learning.
- Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.