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.
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.
- BSB When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
- 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 thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
- Job 7:13–14When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
- Ps 77:4Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
- Job 30:17My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
- Ps 130:6My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
- Ps 6:6I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
- Job 17:12They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
- Ps 109:23I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
- Isa 54:11O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy 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.