Job 3
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
After this time Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And this is what he said:
And Job commenced, and said,
3 “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
Oh that the day whereon I was born might perish, and the night when it was said, There hath been a male child conceived.
4 If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.
May that day be [covered with] darkness; may not God from above inquire for it, and may no light beam upon it.
5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.
Oh that darkness and the shadow of death might defile it; may a cloud rest upon it; may the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year; may it never be entered in any of the months.
Yon night — let darkness seize upon it; let it not be united to the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the [periods lighted by the] moon.
7 Behold, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
Lo, may that night be solitary, let no song of joy occur thereon.
8 May it be cursed by those who curse the day — those prepared to rouse Leviathan.
Let those denounce it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning cry.
9 May its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn.
Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; let it hope for light, and there be none; and let it not behold the eyelids of the morning-dawn;
10 For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
Because God closed not against me the doors of the womb, and thus concealed trouble from my eyes.
11 Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
Why did I not die [the moment I issued] from the womb, and [why] was I not born merely to perish at once?
12 Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?
Wherefore were knees ready to receive me? and for what purpose were breasts there that I might suck?
13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
For now should I be lying still and be quiet; I should sleep: then would I be at rest,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,
With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build up ruined places for themselves;
15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
Or with princes possessing gold, who fill their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
Or as an untimely birth, hidden [from view] I should not exist; as infants that never have seen the light;
17 There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.
There [where] the wicked cease from troubling; and where the exhausted weary are at rest;
18 The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
[Where] the prisoners repose together, [and] they hear no more the taskmaster's voice.
19 Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
The small with the great is there, and the servant free from his master.
20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
Wherefore giveth He now light to the labor-laden, and life unto the bitter in soul?
21 who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,
Who wait for death, which [cometh] not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures;
22 who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave?
Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave?
23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
[Why is light given] to a man whose way is hidden, and around whom God hath placed a fence?
24 I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.
For before my food cometh my groaning, and like the water are poured forth my loud complaints.
25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
Because what I greatly dreaded is come upon me, and what I apprehended is come unto me.
26 I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”
I have had no safety, and no quiet, and no rest; and [now] harrowing trouble is come.
