Job 3

1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

Finally, Job spoke, and he cursed the day that he was born.

2 saying,

He said,

3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a boy!

“I wish that the day when I was born could be eradicated, and also the night when I was conceived.

4 Let that night be darkness, and let not the Lord regard it from above, neither let light come upon it.

I wish that the day when I was born would have been covered in darkness. I wish that God who is in heaven [MTY] would have forgotten about that day, and that the sun would not have shone on it.

5 But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; let blackness come upon it;

I wish that thick/intense darkness would have filled that day, and that a black cloud would have come over it and blotted out all light and caused people to be terrified.

6 let that day and night be cursed, let darkness carry them away; let it not come into the days of the year, neither let it be numbered with the days of the months.

I wish that the night when I was conceived would be erased from the calendar, with the result that it would never again appear as one night in any month, and that it would not be included in any calendar.

7 But let that night be pain, and let not mirth come upon it, nor joy.

I wish that no child would again be conceived on that night of the month [MET], and that no one would again be happy on that night.

8 But let him that curses that day curse it, [even] he that is ready to attack the great whale.

I want those people who (curse/put evil spells on) days—those who know how to arouse/awaken the great sea monster—to curse that day.

9 Let the stars of that night be darkened; let it remain [dark], and not come into light; and let it not see the morning star arise:

I wish that the stars that shone early in the morning on that day [after I was conceived] will not shine again. I want those stars to have wished in vain for light to shine; and that they would not have shone on that day.

10 because it shut not up the gates of my mother's womb, for [so] it would have removed sorrow from my eyes.

[That was an evil day] because my mother was able to conceive; instead, I was born, and I have now experienced all these terrible things.

11 For why died I not in the belly? and [why] did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?

“I wish that I had died [RHQ] when I was born— at the time I emerged from my mother’s womb.

12 and why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?

I wish that my mother had not [RHQ] allowed me to live. I wish that she had not nursed me.

13 Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,

If I had died at the time when I was born, I would be asleep, resting peacefully [in the place where the dead people are].

14 with kings [and] councillors of the earth, who gloried in [their] swords;

I would be resting with kings whose [beautiful palaces] that they built are now in ruins (OR, who rebuilt [palaces] that had previously been destroyed), and I would be resting with their officials [who have also died].

15 or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, who filled their houses with silver:

I would be resting with princes who were wealthy, whose palaces were filled with gold and silver.

16 or [I should have been] as an untimely birth proceeding from his mother's womb, or as infants who never saw light.

I wish that I had been buried like a child who died in its mother’s womb and never lived to see the light.

17 There the ungodly have burnt out the fury of rage; there the wearied in body rest.

After wicked people die, they do not cause any more troubles; those who are very tired now will rest.

18 And the men of old time have together ceased to hear the exactor's voice.

Those who were in prison rest peacefully [after they die]; they no longer have slave-drivers who curse them.

19 The small and great are there, and the servant that feared his lord.

Rich people and poor people are alike after they die, and those who were slaves are no longer controlled by their masters.

20 For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, and life to those souls which are in griefs?

(“Why does God allow those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive?/I do not understand why God allows those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive.) [RHQ] Why does he allow those who are very miserable/distressed to keep living [RHQ]?

21 who desire death, and obtain it not, digging [for it] as [for] treasures;

They long/want to die, but they do not die. They desire to die more than people desire to find a hidden treasure.

22 and would be very joyful if they should gain it?

When they finally die and are buried, they are very happy.

23 Death [is] rest to [such] a man, for God has hedged him in.

Those who do not know where they are [eventually] going when they die [RHQ], people whom God has forced [MET] to continue to live in misery, (it is not right that they continue to live./why do they continue to live?) [RHQ]

24 For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.

I continually cry very much; as a result, I cannot eat; and I can never stop groaning.

25 For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, and that which I had feared has befallen me.

Things that I always worried might happen to me, have happened to me; things that I always dreaded have happened to me.

26 I was not at peace, nor quiet, nor had I rest; yet wrath came upon me.

Now I have no peace [in my inner being], I have no peace; I cannot rest; instead, I have only troubles.”