When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
Parallel translations
- WEB When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
- KJV When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB “When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night continues, And I am continually tossing until dawn.
- NLT Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.
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 describes restless, sleepless nights in which he longs for morning yet finds no relief. His suffering robs him even of the comfort of sleep.
Overview
Lying down brings no rest; Job tosses until dawn, dreading the long hours. This honest depiction of suffering shows that the godly are not exempt from anguish that touches body, mind, and rest. Such laments are taken up in the Psalms and ultimately answered in Christ, who invites the weary to find rest in him (Matthew 11:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 28:67In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.
- Job 7:13–14When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
- Ps 77:4You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
- Job 30:17Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.
- Ps 130:6My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning—more than watchmen wait for the morning.
- Ps 6:6I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
- Job 17:12They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
- Ps 109:23I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
- Isa 54:11“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
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 7:4 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.