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Translation
King James Version
Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
Complete Jewish Bible
Men are groaning in the city, the mortally wounded are crying for help, yet God finds nothing amiss!
Berean Standard Bible
From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
American Standard Version
From out of the populous city men groan, And the soul of the wounded crieth out: Yet God regardeth not the folly.
World English Bible Messianic
From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Men cry out of the citie, and the soules of the slayne cry out: yet God doth not charge them with follie.
Young's Literal Translation
Because of enmity men do groan, And the soul of pierced ones doth cry, And God doth not give praise.
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Commentary on Job 24 verses 1–12
1 ¶ Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.
6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
Job's friends had been very positive in it that they should soon see the fall of wicked people, how much soever they might prosper for a while. By no means, says Job; though times are not hidden from the Almighty, yet those that know him do not presently see his day, Job 24:1. 1. He takes it for granted that times are not hidden from the Almighty; past times are not hidden from his judgment (Ecc 3:15), present times are not hidden from his providence (Mat 10:29), future times are not hidden from his prescience, Act 15:18. God governs the world, and therefore we may be sure he takes cognizance of it. Bad times are not hidden from him, though the bad men that make the times bad say one to another, He has forsaken the earth, Psa 94:6, Psa 94:7. Every man's times are in his hand, and under his eye, and therefore it is in his power to make the times of wicked men in this world miserable. He foresees the time of every man's death, and therefore, if wicked men die before they are punished for their wickedness, we cannot say, "They escaped him by surprise;" he foresaw it, nay, he ordered it. Before Job will enquire into the reasons of the prosperity of wicked men he asserts God's omniscience, as one prophet, in a similar case, asserts his righteousness (Jer 12:1), another his holiness (Hab 1:13), another his goodness to his own people, Psa 73:1. General truths must be held fast, though we may find it difficult to reconcile them to particular events. 2. He yet asserts that those who know him (that is, wise and good people who are acquainted with him, and with whom his secret is) do not see his day, - the day of his judging for them; this was the thing he complained of in his own case (Job 23:8), that he could not see God appearing on his behalf to plead his cause, - the day of his judging against open and notorious sinners, that is called his day, Psa 37:13. We believe that day will come, but we do not see it, because it is future, and its presages are secret. 3. Though this is a mystery of Providence, yet there is a reason for it, and we shall shortly know why the judgment is deferred; even the wisest, and those who know God best, do not yet see it. God will exercise their faith and patience, and excite their prayers for the coming of his kingdom, for which they are to cry day and night to him, Luk 18:7.
For the proof of this, that wicked people prosper, Job specifies two sorts of unrighteous ones, whom all the world saw thriving in their iniquity: -
I. Tyrants, and those that do wrong under pretence of law and authority. It is a melancholy sight which has often been seen under the sun, wickedness in the place of judgment (Ecc 3:16), the unregarded tears of the oppressed, while on the side of the oppressors there was power (Ecc 4:1), the violent perverting of justice and judgment, Ecc 5:8. 1. They disseize their neighbours of their real estates, which came to them by descent from their ancestors. They remove the land-marks, under pretence that they were misplaced (Job 24:2), and so they encroach upon their neighbours' rights and think they effectually secure that to their posterity which they have got wrongfully, by making that to be an evidence for them which should have been an evidence for the rightful owner. This was forbidden by the law of Moses (Deu 19:14), under a curse, Deu 27:17. Forging or destroying deeds is now a crime equivalent to this. 2. They dispossess them of their personal estates, under colour of justice. They violently take away flocks, pretending they are forfeited, and feed thereof; as the rich man took the poor man's ewe lamb, Sa2 12:4. If a poor fatherless child has but an ass of his own to get a little money with, they find some colour or other to take it away, because the owner is not able to contest with them. It is all one if a widow has but an ox for what little husbandry she has; under pretence of distraining for some small debt, or arrears of rent, this ox shall be taken for a pledge, though perhaps it is the widow's all. God has taken it among the titles of his honour to be a Father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows; and therefore those will not be reckoned his friends that do not to their utmost protect and help them; but those he will certainly reckon with as his enemies that vex and oppress them. 3. They take all occasions to offer personal abuses to them, Job 24:4. They will mislead them if they can when they meet them on the high-way, so that the poor and needy are forced to hide themselves from them, having no other way to secure themselves from them. They love in their hearts to banter people, and to make fools of them, and do them a mischief if they can, especially to triumph over poor people, whom they turn out of the way of getting relief, threaten to punish them as vagabonds, and so force them to abscond, and laugh at them when they have done. Some understand those barbarous actions (Job 24:9, Job 24:10) to be done by those oppressors that pretend law for what they do: They pluck the fatherless from the breast; that is, having made poor infants fatherless, they make them motherless too; having taken away the father's life, they break the mother's heart, and so starve the children and leave them to perish. Pharaoh and Herod plucked children from the breast to the sword; and we read of children brought forth to the murderers, Hos 9:13. Those are inhuman murderers indeed that can with so much pleasure suck innocent blood. They take a pledge of the poor, and so they rob the spital; nay, they take the poor themselves for a pledge (as some read it), and probably it was under this pretence that they plucked the fatherless from the breast, distraining them for slaves, as Neh 5:5. Cruelty to the poor is great wickedness and cries aloud for vengeance. Those who show no mercy to such as lie at their mercy shall themselves have judgment without mercy. Another instance of their barbarous treatment of those they have advantage against is that they take from them even their necessary food and raiment; they squeeze them so with their extortion that they cause them to go naked without clothing (Job 24:10) and so catch their death. And if a poor hungry family has gleaned a sheaf of corn, to make a little cake of, that they may eat it and die, even that they take away from them, being well pleased to see them perish for want, while they themselves are fed to the full. 4. They are very oppressive to the labourers they employ in their service. They not only give them no wages, though the labourer is worthy of his hire (and this is a crying sin, Jam 5:4), but they will not so much as give them meat and drink: Those that carry their sheaves are hungry; so some read it (Job 24:10), and it agrees with Job 24:11, that those who make oil within their walls, and with a great deal of toil labour at the wine-presses, yet suffer thirst, which was worse than muzzling the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn. Those masters forget that they have a Master in heaven who will not allow the necessary supports of life to their servants and labourers, not caring whether they can live by their labour or no. 5. It is not only among the poor country people, but in the cities also, that we see the tears of the oppressed (Job 24:12): Men groan from out of the city, where the rich merchants and traders are as cruel with their poor debtors as the landlords in the country are with their poor tenants. In cities such cruel actions as these are more observed than in obscure corners of the country and the wronged have easier access to justice to right themselves; and yet the oppressors there fear neither the restraints of the law nor the just censures of their neighbours, but the oppressed groan and cry out like wounded men, and can no more ease and help themselves, for the oppressors are inexorable and deaf to their groans.
II. He speaks of robbers, and those that do wrong by downright force, as the bands of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, which had lately plundered him. He does not mention them particularly, lest he should seem partial to his own cause, and to judge of men (as we are apt to do) by what they are to us; but among the Arabians, the children of the east (Job's country), there were those that lived by spoil and rapine, making incursions upon their neighbours, and robbing travellers. See how they are described here, and what mischief they do, Job 24:5-8. 1. Their character is that they are as wild asses in the desert, untamed, untractable, unreasonable, Ishmael's character (Gen 16:12), fierce and furious, and under no restraint of law or government, Jer 2:23, Jer 2:24. They choose the deserts for their dwelling, that they may be lawless and unsociable, and that they may have opportunity of doing the more mischief. The desert is indeed the fittest place for such wild people, Job 39:6. But no desert can set men out of the reach of God's eye and hand. 2. Their trade is to steal, and to make a prey of all about them. They have chosen it as their trade; it is their work, because there is more to be got by it, and it is got more easily, than by an honest calling. They follow it as their trade; they follow it closely; they go forth to it as their work, as man goes forth to his labour, Psa 104:23. They are diligent and take pains at it: They rise betimes for a prey. If a traveller be out early, they will be out as soon to rob him. They live by it as a man lives by his trade: The wilderness (not the grounds there but the roads there) yieldeth food for them and for their children; they maintain themselves and their families by robbing on the high-way, and bless themselves in it without any remorse of compassion or conscience, and with as much security as if it were honestly got; as Ephraim, Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8. 3. See the mischief they do to the country. They not only rob travellers, but they make incursions upon their neighbours, and reap every one his corn in the field (Job 24:6), that is, they enter upon other people's ground, cut their corn, and carry it away as freely as if it were their own. Even the wicked gather the vintage, and it is their wickedness; or, as we read it, They gather the vintage of the wicked, and so one wicked man is made a scourge to another. What the wicked got by extortion (which is their way of stealing) these robbers get from them in their way of stealing; thus oftentimes are the spoilers spoiled, Isa 33:1. 4. The misery of those that fall into their hands (Job 24:7, Job 24:8): They cause the naked, whom they have stripped, not leaving them the clothes to their backs, to lodge, in the cold nights, without clothing, so that they are wet with the showers of the mountains, and, for want of a better shelter, embrace the rock, and are glad of a cave or den in it to preserve them from the injuries of the weather. Eliphaz had charged Job with such inhumanity as this, concluding that Providence would not thus have stripped him if he had not first stripped the naked of their clothing, Job 22:6. Job here tells him there were those that were really guilty of those crimes with which he was unjustly charged and yet prospered and had success in their villanies, the curse they laid themselves under working invisibly; and Job thinks it more just to argue as he did, from an open notorious course of wickedness inferring a secret and future punishment, than to argue as Eliphaz did, who from nothing but present trouble inferred a course of past secret iniquity. The impunity of these oppressors and spoilers is expressed in one word (Job 24:12): Yet God layeth not folly to them, that is, he does not immediately prosecute them with his judgments for these crimes, nor make them examples, and so evince their folly to all the world. He that gets riches, and not by right, at his end shall be a fool, Jer 17:11. But while he prospers he passes for a wise man, and God lays not folly to him until he saith, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, Luk 12:20.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–12. Public domain.
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Olympiodorus of AlexandriaAD 600
“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.
“And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses.
“And the soul of the children has groaned aloud.” From the bottom of their heart [they groaned], because they had no parents any longer who provided them with food. - "Commentary on Job 24.9-12"
Olympiodorus of AlexandriaAD 600
COMMENTARY ON JOB 24:9-12
“They have snatched the fatherless from the breast.” They have lamentably and mercilessly taken away the child who still nursed and hanged from his mother’s breast. “And they have deprived the outcast,” that is, they have also deprived the outcast of his properties by taking away what he had. “They have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing.” By wrongfully stripping others, who owed them nothing, they have caused them to love rest. “They have taken away the morsel of the hungry.” They have reduced them to extreme poverty and starvation. “They have unjustly laid ambush in narrow places.” They have laid ambush in hidden places; in fact, in larger places and roads they wait in ambush for those who have no chance to escape.“And they,” that is, all the impious persons, “have not known the righteous way.” “They have been cast forth from their cities and their houses.” This refers to those who wantonly sleep without clothing. They [the fatherless] have, in fact, suffered these things from these criminals, after being driven out of their city and their houses.
“And the soul of the children has groaned aloud.” From the bottom of their heart [they groaned], because they had no parents any longer who provided them with food.
Olympiodorus of AlexandriaAD 600
COMMENTARY ON JOB 24:12-13
He says this again to his friends with a bit of hesitation, If afflictions entirely derive from sins, why did he who observes all that happens on earth allow them to go without being visited by him? “And they took no notice,” that is, the iniquitous took no notice of the fact that they were not visited. Indeed it is believed and taught about divine visitation, “The Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father checks a well-loved son.”
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
68. Whereas cities (civitates) are so called from the people living together, (conviventes,) by the designation of ‘cities’ the churches of the true faith are not unfitly represented, which being settled in the different parts of the world constitute one Catholic Church, in which all the faithful thinking what is right concerning God live together in harmony. For this very harmony of people living together the Lord even by the distinguishing of places set forth in the Gospel, when being about to satisfy the people with five loaves, He bade them lie down by fifties or hundreds in ranks, so that the crowd of the faithful might take its food at once separate in places, and united in ways. For the rest of the jubilee is contained in a mystery of the number fifty, and fifty is carried twice to be brought to a hundred. Therefore because there is first rest from bad practice, that the soul may afterwards rest more perfectly in the thoughts, some lie down by fifties and some by hundreds, since there are some that already enjoy the rest of practice from evil deeds, and there are some that already enjoy the rest of the soul from evil thoughts. Wherefore since Heretics often, attaching themselves to the powerful evil-doers of this world, bear down upon the united life and harmony of the good, it is rightly said in this place, They have caused men to groan from the cities. Whom blessed Job rightly describes as ‘men,’ in that Heretics rather go about to put an end to those, who with perfect steps run in the way of God not effeminately and loosely but manfully; who when they see the wound of misbelieve inflicted in the mind of the faithful little ones, always fall back to crying out and groaning. And hence it is rightly said,
And the soul of the wounded crieth, and God suffereth him not to go unavenged.
69. For the soul of the righteous is ‘wounded,’ when the faith of the weak is unsettled, unto whom this identical thing ‘to cry’ is to be now consumed for the downfall of another. But God does not suffer him to go unavenged, in that though by just appointment he suffers an unjust thing to be done, yet He does not let that unjust thing go unavenged which He has justly permitted to be done, seeing that at once by the injustice of the sons of perdition He smites certain sins of the Elect, which He sees to be in them, and yet by Eternal Justice does not neglect to smite the injustice of those smiters.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Job 24:12 serves as a poignant and unsettling lament from Job, who observes the pervasive suffering and injustice endured by the vulnerable within urban environments. He vividly describes the audible anguish of the oppressed and wounded, yet paradoxically concludes that God does not "lay folly" to these circumstances or to the perpetrators of such evil. This statement encapsulates Job's profound struggle to reconcile divine justice and sovereignty with the apparent impunity of the wicked and the unaddressed cries of the afflicted, challenging the simplistic theological frameworks of his friends.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is situated within Job's extended and impassioned response (chapters 23-24) to Eliphaz's third discourse, which reiterated the conventional wisdom that suffering is a direct consequence of sin. Job, however, vehemently rejects this simplistic equation, presenting a stark and unflinching tableau of widespread injustice and oppression that directly contradicts his friends' rigid theology. In this chapter, Job meticulously details various forms of societal evil—from land theft and exploitation of the poor to violence against the vulnerable—and highlights the disturbing reality that the wicked often prosper while the innocent suffer. His lament in Job 24 is not merely a complaint but a profound wrestling with the very character of God in the face of inexplicable evil, a central theme that permeates his entire discourse and is particularly evident in his earlier challenge regarding the prosperity of the wicked in Job 21:7. This verse, therefore, acts as a powerful rhetorical climax, laying bare the profound disconnect Job perceives between God's purported justice and the observable realities of the world.
Historical & Cultural Context: The Book of Job is set in an ancient, likely patriarchal, period, though its precise historical dating remains a subject of scholarly debate. The "city" (עִיר, 'îyr) in this context refers to a populated center, which, while a hub of commerce and administration, was also a place where social stratification and injustice were most starkly visible. In ancient Near Eastern societies, justice was typically administered by local elders or rulers at the city gate. However, the vulnerable—widows, orphans, sojourners, and the poor—were often susceptible to exploitation and lacked the means to secure justice. Job's observations reflect a harsh reality where the powerful could oppress the weak with little recourse from human authorities. His complaint extends beyond individual suffering to encompass systemic injustice, where the desperate cries of the wounded are ignored by those in power and, in Job's perplexing view, by God Himself. This highlights a universal human experience across cultures and times: the profound struggle to reconcile a belief in a just and sovereign God with the visible, unpunished presence of evil and suffering in the world.
Key Themes: Job 24:12 contributes significantly to several overarching themes foundational to the Book of Job. Firstly, it powerfully underscores the Problem of Suffering and Theodicy, challenging the simplistic cause-and-effect theology espoused by Job's friends by presenting undeniable instances where the righteous suffer and the wicked thrive without immediate consequence. Secondly, it amplifies the Cry of the Oppressed, giving a visceral voice to the marginalized, the exploited, and the wounded, thereby emphasizing the pervasive nature of human misery and the desperate, often unheard, need for divine intervention. This theme resonates deeply with numerous biblical passages that highlight God's attentiveness to the cries of the poor and afflicted, such as the declaration in Psalm 9:12 that God "forgets not the cry of the humble." Thirdly, and most critically, the verse grapples with Divine Justice and Apparent Inaction. Job's poignant statement, "yet God layeth not folly [to them]," encapsulates his profound struggle with God's perceived silence or non-intervention in the face of blatant injustice. This challenging perspective is central to the book's profound exploration of faith amidst mystery, where human understanding of divine governance is pushed to its limits.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 24:12 masterfully employs several literary devices to convey its powerful and unsettling message. The most prominent is Juxtaposition, which creates a stark and painful contrast between the intense, audible suffering of humanity ("Men groan... and the soul of the wounded crieth out") and God's perceived non-intervention ("yet God layeth not folly [to them]"). This contrast generates a profound sense of Pathos, evoking deep sympathy for the afflicted and highlighting the emotional weight and urgency of their cries. The verse also functions as an implicit Rhetorical Question, as Job is not simply stating a fact but is profoundly questioning God's justice and sovereignty in the face of unpunished evil. The very act of stating this observation is an indictment, challenging the conventional wisdom and forcing a confrontation with the mystery of divine governance. Furthermore, the vivid imagery of "groans" and "cries" effectively employs Auditory Imagery, making the suffering palpable and immediate to the reader, drawing them into the raw reality of the oppressed.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 24:12 stands as a profound expression of the human struggle with the problem of evil and divine justice. It articulates the universal cry of the oppressed, echoing through history and resonating with all who witness or experience injustice and wonder about God's presence and intervention. Job's lament challenges simplistic theological frameworks that neatly tie suffering to sin, forcing a deeper engagement with the mystery of God's ways and the complexity of His divine timetable. While Job perceives God as seemingly inactive in dispensing immediate justice, the broader biblical narrative consistently affirms God's ultimate justice and His profound attentiveness to the cries of the suffering, even if His timing and methods are not always immediately comprehensible to human understanding. This tension invites believers to trust in God's character even when circumstances are perplexing, while simultaneously calling them to actively participate in seeking justice and alleviating suffering as agents of His compassion in a broken world.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 24:12 compels us to confront the uncomfortable reality of suffering and injustice that permeates our world and to honestly wrestle with our perceptions of God's role within it. It profoundly validates the anguish of those who groan and cry out, reminding us that such pain is real, deeply personal, and often goes unaddressed by human systems or immediate divine intervention. For believers, this verse serves as a powerful call to empathy, urging us to not turn a blind eye or deaf ear to the "groans from out of the city" in our own communities and globally. While Job struggles with God's apparent non-intervention, the verse implicitly challenges us to consider our own responsibility as God's image-bearers. If God's ultimate justice is assured, how are we called to be His hands and feet in alleviating suffering, advocating for the oppressed, and speaking truth to power? This passage encourages us to cultivate a deep compassion for the marginalized, to actively work for justice, and to extend comfort to the afflicted, even when the path is difficult and the divine timetable seems delayed. It reminds us that our faith is not meant to be a comfortable escape from the world's pain, but a robust and active engagement with it, trusting that God sees, hears, and will ultimately act in His perfect time and way.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "yet God layeth not folly [to them]" truly mean in Job 24:12?
Answer: This is the most challenging phrase in the verse, with several layers of interpretation, all reflecting Job's profound perplexity. The Hebrew word for "folly" (תִּפְלָה, tiflah) refers to moral depravity, wickedness, or senselessness. The phrase "layeth not folly [to them]" most commonly means that God does not attribute or impute this wickedness to the perpetrators by immediately punishing them, nor does He seem to take account of the "folly" of the suffering itself (i.e., the senselessness or injustice of the pain). In essence, Job is lamenting God's apparent lack of immediate, visible intervention or judgment against the wicked, despite the profound suffering they inflict. He is not saying God approves of the folly, but that God does not seem to "set it down" or "charge it" against them in a way that leads to swift justice, leaving the cries of the wounded unaddressed. This interpretation aligns with Job's overall argument that the wicked often prosper while the righteous suffer, a point he makes throughout his discourse, contrasting sharply with the traditional theology of his friends who believe in immediate divine retribution.
Is Job accusing God of being unjust or indifferent in this verse?
Answer: Job is not necessarily accusing God of being unjust in an ultimate sense, but he is certainly expressing his profound confusion, frustration, and even a sense of accusation regarding God's apparent inaction in the face of palpable injustice. He is wrestling with the mystery of God's governance, not denying God's existence or power. Job's lament is a desperate plea for understanding and a direct challenge to the conventional wisdom that God always punishes sin immediately. He observes a reality that contradicts the neat theological boxes his friends try to put God in, where suffering is always a direct result of sin. His struggle is deeply honest and reflects a crisis of faith that seeks to reconcile God's goodness and omnipotence with the harsh realities of a fallen world where evil often seems to go unpunished. This challenging perspective is part of the book's larger purpose: to explore the nature of faith when God's ways are inscrutable, as seen in passages like Job 13:15 where Job declares his trust even in the face of death.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 24:12, with its raw depiction of human suffering and the perplexing question of divine inaction in the face of injustice, finds its ultimate and profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While Job grapples with a God who seemingly "layeth not folly" to the oppressors, the New Testament reveals a God who, in Christ, fully identifies with the groans of humanity, takes on the "folly" of sin, and ultimately establishes perfect justice. Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, entered a world groaning under the weight of sin and injustice, experiencing suffering and oppression firsthand. He was the wounded one, whose "soul cried out" on the cross, not because of his own sin, but as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity. In Christ, God did not ignore the folly of sin; rather, He "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Furthermore, Christ's resurrection and eventual return promise the definitive end of all groaning and crying out. He is the one who will ultimately "wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain" (Revelation 21:4). Thus, the apparent divine inaction that troubled Job is resolved in the active, redemptive, and future just intervention of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who not only hears the cries but has personally borne the suffering and will one day perfectly right all wrongs, demonstrating that God indeed lays folly to account, but in His perfect timing and through His perfect plan of salvation and final judgment.