Job 7

Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope

1 "Has not man r a hard service on earth,
and are not his s days like the days of a hired hand?
 2 Like a slave who longs for t the shadow,
and like u a hired hand who looks for his v wages,
 3 so I am allotted months of w emptiness,
x and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
 4 y When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?'
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
 5 My flesh is clothed with z worms and a dirt;
my skin hardens, then b breaks out afresh.
 6 My days are c swifter than d a weaver's shuttle
and come to their end without hope.

7 "Remember that my life is a e breath;
my eye will never again see good.
 8 f The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
while your eyes are on me, g I shall be gone.
 9 As h the cloud fades and vanishes,
so he who i goes down to Sheol does not come up;
 10 he j returns no more to his house,
nor does his k place know him anymore.

11 "Therefore I will not l restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will m complain in n the bitterness of my soul.
 12 Am I the sea, or o a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
 13 p 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 I would choose strangling
and death rather than my q bones.
 16 I r loathe my life; I would not live forever.
s Leave me alone, for my days are t a breath.
 17 u What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
 18 v visit him every morning
and w test him every moment?
 19 How long will you not x look away from me,
nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
 20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
Why have you made me y your mark?
Why have I become a burden to you?
 21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in z the earth;
you will a seek me, b but I shall not be."

  1. Cross References
    Job 14:14
    If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
    Isaiah 40:2
    Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord 's hand double for all her sins.
  2. Cross References
    Job 14:5
    Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.
    Psalms 39:4
    O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
  3. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:17
    Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.
    Song of Solomon 4:6
    Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.
    Jeremiah 6:4
    Prepare war against her; arise, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!
  4. Cross References
    Job 14:6
    Look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
  5. Cross References
    Leviticus 19:13
    You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
  6. Cross References
    Job 7:16
    I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
  7. Cross References
    Job 30:17
    The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:67
    In the morning you shall say, 'If only it were evening!' and at evening you shall say, 'If only it were morning!' because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your eyes shall see.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 14:11
    Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.
  10. Cross References
    Job 2:8
    And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
  11. Cross References
    Job 2:7
    So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
  12. Cross References
    Job 9:25
    My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 38:12
    My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end.
  14. Cross References
    Job 6:26
    Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
    Psalms 78:39
    He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.
  15. Cross References
    Job 20:9
    The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.
    Job 8:18
    If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.
    Psalms 37:36
    But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.
  16. Cross References
    Job 7:2
    Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages.
  17. Cross References
    Job 30:15
    Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
  18. Cross References
    Job 21:13
    They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.
  19. Cross References
    Job 10:21
    Before I go - and I shall not return - to the land of darkness and deep shadow.
    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 will not return to me.
  20. Cross References
    Job 20:9
    The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.
    Psalms 103:16
    For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
    Job 8:18
    If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.
  21. Cross References
    Psalms 40:9
    I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
  22. Cross References
    Job 21:4
    As for me, is my complaint against man? Why should I not be impatient?
    Psalms 77:3
    When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
  23. Cross References
    Job 10:1
    I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
    Job 21:25
    Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.
    1 Samuel 1:10
    She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
    Isaiah 38:15
    What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
    Job 3:20
    Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul.
  24. Cross References
    Genesis 1:21
    So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
  25. Cross References
    Job 9:27
    If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer.
  26. Cross References
    Job 19:20
    My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
    Job 30:17
    The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
  27. Cross References
    Job 9:21
    I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life.
    Job 10:1
    I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
  28. Cross References
    Job 10:20
    Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer
    Job 14:6
    Look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
    Exodus 14:12
    Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.
    Psalms 39:13
    Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!
  29. Cross References
    Job 7:3
    So I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
  30. Cross References
    Psalms 8:4
    What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
    Psalms 144:3
    O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?
    Hebrews 2:6
    It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
  31. Cross References
    Psalms 17:3
    You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
  32. Cross References
    Psalms 11:4 - 5
    The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord 's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
  33. Cross References
    Job 14:6
    Look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.
  34. Cross References
    Job 16:12
    I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target.
    Lamentations 3:12
    He bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.
  35. Cross References
    Daniel 12:2
    And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
  36. Cross References
    Job 8:5
    If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy.
    Job 24:5
    Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.
    Proverbs 1:28
    Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
  37. Cross References
    Job 7:8
    The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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