📖 Job — Chapter 7 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 7:1 RIs there not Tan appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
Job 7:2 As a servant Tearnestly desireth Rthe shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
Job 7:3 So am I made to possess Rmonths of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
Job 7:4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and Tthe night be gone? and I am full of Rtossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
Job 7:5 My Rflesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
Job 7:6 My days are Rswifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
Job 7:7 O Rremember that my life is wind: mine eye Tshall no more Tsee good.
Job 7:8 RThe eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and TI am not.
Job 7:9 As Rthe cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
Job 7:10 He Rshall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
Job 7:11 Therefore RI will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 7:12 Am RI a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
Job 7:13 When I say, RMy bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaints;
Job 7:14 Then Rthou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
Job 7:15 So that my soul Rchooseth strangling, and death rather than my Tlife.
Job 7:16 RI loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
Job 7:17 RWhat is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
Job 7:18 And that thou shouldest Rvisit him every morning, and try him every moment?
Job 7:19 RHow long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
Job 7:20 RI have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
Job 7:21 And Rwhy dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 7:1–10 — Weariness and passing days
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job compares life with hard service and describes sleepless nights, bodily suffering, and days passing without hope. His picture of death expresses how life looks from within this grief. It should not be extracted as the book's complete doctrine of resurrection. The passage asks readers to hear the experience being voiced.
Key Truth: Listen to the sufferer's experience without reducing it to a proposition.
Check What You Remember
1. To whose days does Job compare human days? (Job 7:1)
Find it in Job 7:1 (KJV).
2. What tool pictures his swiftly passing days? (Job 7:6)
Find it in Job 7:6 (KJV).
3. What vanishing object pictures going to the grave? (Job 7:9)
Find it in Job 7:9 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 7:11–16 — Anguish spoken openly
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job refuses to suppress his complaint and describes fear even when he seeks rest in bed. He speaks of preferring death to this suffering. These are desperate words recorded in lament, not guidance for self-harm. A caring reader hears the need for relief and support rather than treating the speech as something to punish.
Key Truth: Take desperate pain seriously and respond with compassionate care.
Check What You Remember
1. In what state does Job say he will speak? (Job 7:11)
Find it in Job 7:11 (KJV).
2. What does he hope will comfort him? (Job 7:13)
Find it in Job 7:13 (KJV).
3. What frightens him during rest? (Job 7:14)
Find it in Job 7:14 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 7:17–21 — Questions addressed to God
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job asks why he seems continually watched and tested and why pardon and relief do not come. His questions arise without knowledge of the opening scene. He brings his distress directly to God rather than offering a settled explanation of God's motives. The book leaves room for prayer that includes bewilderment.
Key Truth: Bring bewilderment honestly before God.
Check What You Remember
1. How often does Job describe being visited? (Job 7:18)
Find it in Job 7:18 (KJV).
2. What name does he use when addressing God? (Job 7:20)
Find it in Job 7:20 (KJV).
3. What does he ask God to pardon? (Job 7:21)
Find it in Job 7:21 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Psalms 13:1 — The psalm also asks how long distress and apparent absence will continue.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How could honest prayer make room for questions you cannot yet resolve?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How do the servant and hireling images express waiting?
2. How do the shuttle and wind images characterise Job’s days?
3. What point accompanies the cloud image?
4. Why does hoped-for rest fail to comfort Job?
5. How does the closing appeal move beyond complaint?
Notes
Write what you want to remember, questions to explore, or Scriptures to look up later. Your saved notes are private to your account.
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