Job 7

Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope

1 "Is there not a a time of hard service for man on earth?
Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? 2 Like a servant who 1 earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages, 3 So I have been allotted b months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me. 4 c When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise,
And the night be ended?'
For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn. 5 My flesh is d caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh. 6 "My e days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
And are spent without hope.

7 Oh, remember that f my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good. 8 g The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be. 9 As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So h he who goes down to the grave does not come up. 10 He shall never return to his house,
i Nor shall his place know him anymore.

11 "Therefore I will j not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will k complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me? 13 l When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,' 14 Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions, 15 So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than 2 my body. 16 m I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
n Let me alone,
For o my days are but 3 a breath. 17 "What p is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him, 18 That You should 4 visit him every morning,
And test him every moment? 19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva? 20 Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, q O watcher of men?
Why r have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden 5 to myself? 21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be."

  1. Cross References
    Job 14:5
    Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
    Job 14:13
    Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
    Job 14:14
    If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.
    Psalms 39:4
    LORD, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.
  2. Cross References
    Job 15:31
    Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:67
    In the morning you shall say, 'Oh, that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, 'Oh, that it were morning!' because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.
    Job 7:13
    When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint.
    Job 7:14
    Then You scare me with dreams And terrify me with visions.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:11
    Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.
  5. Cross References
    Job 9:25
    Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.
    Job 16:22
    For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return.
    Job 17:11
    My days are past, My purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart.
    Isaiah 38:12
    My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
    James 4:14
    Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
  6. Cross References
    Job 7:16
    I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, For my days are but a breath.
    Psalms 78:39
    For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
    Psalms 89:47
    Remember how short my time is; For what futility have You created all the children of men?
  7. Cross References
    Job 8:18
    If he is destroyed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.
    Job 20:9
    The eye that saw him will see him no more, Nor will his place behold him anymore.
  8. Cross References
    2 Samuel 12:23
    "But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 103:16
    For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 39:1
    I SAID, "I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me.
    Psalms 39:9
    I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it.
  11. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:10
    And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.
  12. Cross References
    Job 9:27
    If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile.
  13. Cross References
    Job 10:1
    My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
  14. Cross References
    Job 14:6
    Look away from him that he may rest, Till like a hired man he finishes his day.
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 62:9
    Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
  16. Cross References
    Job 22:2
    Can a man be profitable to God, Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
    Psalms 8:4
    What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
    Psalms 144:3
    LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
    Hebrews 2:6
    But one testified in a certain place, saying: "What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him?
  17. Cross References
    Psalms 36:6
    Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
  18. Cross References
    Psalms 21:12
    Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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