Bible Strands
Job 21:20
Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his friends during a debate over divine justice, insisting that the wicked should face punishment directly rather than having it stored up for their descendants.
The words — The verse centers on יִרְא֣וּ (yir.'U), "let them see," and יִשְׁתֶּה (yish.Teh), "let him drink," framing destruction and the rage of the Almighty as immediate, personal experiences.
The thread — This cup imagery recurs in Psalms 75:8, Isaiah 51:17, and Revelation 14:10, where God's fury is depicted as a poured-out drink for the wicked.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to confront the reality of direct accountability, rejecting any notion that consequences can be safely deferred or transferred to others.
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
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Cross-references
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
- Revelation 14:10 he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
- Job 27:19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
- Psalms 60:3 You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
- Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- Revelation 19:15 And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.