He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.
- KJV He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
- NKJV He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
- NASB “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
- NLT He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has uprooted my hope like a fallen tree.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job says God has broken him down on every side and uprooted his hope like a tree. He feels demolished and without future.
Overview
Job describes himself as a building torn down and a tree pulled up by the roots, his hope destroyed. The double image conveys complete ruin of both his life and his expectations. Yet even uprooted hope is not the end of the story for the believer, for in Christ there springs up a living hope that cannot be destroyed (1 Peter 1:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 24:20The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Job 12:14What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
- 2 Cor 4:8–9We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- Job 17:15where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?
- Job 8:13–18Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Job 17:11My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.
- Lam 2:5–6The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah.
- Ps 102:11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Job 6:11What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?
- Job 1:13–19One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
- Ps 88:13–18But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
- Job 2:7So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
- Job 7:6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 19:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.