📖 Job — Chapter 13 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine Rear hath heard and understood it.
Job 13:2 RWhat ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
Job 13:3 RSurely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
Job 13:4 But Rye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! Rand it should be your wisdom.
Job 13:6 RHear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
Job 13:7 RWill ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
Job 13:8 RWill ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?
Job 13:9 Is it good that he should Rsearch you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?
Job 13:10 He will surely Rreprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
Job 13:11 RShall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?
Job 13:12 Your Rremembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.
Job 13:13 THold your peace, Rlet me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
Job 13:14 Wherefore do RI take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
Job 13:15 Though Rhe slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will Tmaintain mine own ways before him.
Job 13:16 He also shall be Rmy salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.
Job 13:17 RHear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.
Job 13:18 Behold now, RI have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
Job 13:19 Who is he Rthat will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.
Job 13:20 Only Rdo not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.
Job 13:21 RWithdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.
Job 13:22 Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.
Job 13:23 How Rmany are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Job 13:24 Wherefore Rhidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
Job 13:25 Wilt thou Rbreak a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
Job 13:26 For thou Rwritest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
Job 13:27 Thou Rputtest my feet also in the stocks, and Tlookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the Theels of my feet.
Job 13:28 RAnd he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 13:1–12 — Job challenges false advocacy
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job says his friends share knowledge he already has and calls their accusations worthless medicine. He asks whether they will speak deceitfully in God's defense. A claim to defend God does not excuse falsehood about a person. The book's later judgment on the friends gives this challenge particular force.
Key Truth: Truthfulness matters even when claiming a religious purpose.
Check What You Remember
1. Whom does Job want to reason with? (Job 13:3)
Find it in Job 13:3 (KJV).
2. What kind of physicians does he call the friends? (Job 13:4)
Find it in Job 13:4 (KJV).
3. What does he say their silence could show? (Job 13:5)
Find it in Job 13:5 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 13:13–19 — Trust and a desire to plead
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job resolves to speak despite risk and declares trust while maintaining his case. The familiar statement about trusting even if slain belongs within this struggle, not outside it. His faith and insistence on being heard coexist. Reading the whole paragraph protects it from becoming a demand that suffering people stop questioning.
Key Truth: Trust can coexist with an honest appeal to be heard.
Check What You Remember
1. In whom does Job say he will trust? (Job 13:15)
Find it in Job 13:15 (KJV).
2. What does he intend to maintain before God? (Job 13:15)
Find it in Job 13:15 (KJV).
3. What has he ordered or prepared? (Job 13:18)
Find it in Job 13:18 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 13:20–28 — A request for an answer
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job asks that the weight of God's hand and terror be removed so he can answer or speak. He asks to know his sin and questions why he seems treated as an enemy. The images of a leaf and dry stubble stress his frailty. His prayer seeks understanding rather than accepting the friends' unsupported conclusions.
Key Truth: Ask for understanding while acknowledging your limits.
Check What You Remember
1. What does Job ask God to withdraw? (Job 13:21)
Find it in Job 13:21 (KJV).
2. What does he ask God to make known? (Job 13:23)
Find it in Job 13:23 (KJV).
3. Name one fragile image Job uses for himself. (Job 13:25)
Find it in Job 13:25 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Psalms 62:8 — The psalm invites people to pour out their hearts before God.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can you speak truthfully and pray honestly without pretending every question is settled?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. Why does Job call silence a possible form of wisdom for the friends?
2. What moral danger does Job identify in speaking on God’s behalf?
3. How does Job combine trust with a desire to present his case?
4. What two hindrances does Job ask God to remove before dialogue?
5. How do the leaf and stubble images support his plea?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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