Job 3
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day,
2 And Job answered and said,
and this is what he said:
3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived.
May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”
4 That day — let it be darkness, let not God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:
May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it.
Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness.
6 That night — let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.
Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.
7 Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein;
May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan;
May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn:
Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East.
10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.
For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes.
11 Wherefore did I not die from the womb, — come forth from the belly and expire?
Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish?
12 Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?
Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?
13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves,
with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes,
15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;
either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver,
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.
or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.
There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest.
18 The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff.
19 The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.
The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,
Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,
21 Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure
22 Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? —
and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,
23 To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?
to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?
24 For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.
Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl,
25 For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.
for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.
Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.
