My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
Parallel translations
- WEB My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
- KJV My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
- NKJV My flesh is caked with worms and dust, My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
- NASB “My flesh is clothed with maggots and a crust of dirt, My skin hardens and oozes.
- NLT My body is covered with maggots and scabs. My skin breaks open, oozing with pus.
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 graphically describes his diseased body, covered with worms and crusted skin that cracks and oozes. His physical torment is severe and degrading.
Overview
This vivid, unsettling description reflects the bodily horror of Job's affliction following Satan's attack on his health (Job 2:7). The decay of his flesh mirrors the corruption of death encroaching while he still lives. It underscores the depth of suffering a blameless man endures, setting the stage for the larger question of God's justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Job 17:14and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
- Isa 14:11Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
- Job 2:7–8So 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.
- Ps 38:5–7My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly.
- Isa 1:6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
- Job 9:31then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
- Job 30:18–19With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
- Isa 66:24“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
- Ezek 20:43There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.
- Job 24:20The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is like a broken tree.
- Job 19:26Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
- Acts 12:23Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 7:5 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.