Job 3
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
2 And Job answered and said,
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 on which I was born perish, the night that said, 'A boy 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 dark; may not God from above call it to mind, neither may the sun shine on it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it.
May darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. May a cloud live over it; may everything that makes the day black truly terrify it.
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.
As for that night, may thick darkness seize it. May it not rejoice among the days of the year; may it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein;
See, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan;
May they curse that day, those who know how to wake up 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:
May the stars of that day's dawn be dark. May that day look for light, but find none; neither may it see the eyelids of the dawn,
10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.
because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, and because it did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Wherefore did I not die from the womb, — come forth from the belly and expire?
Why did I not die when I came out from the womb? Why did I not give up my spirit when my mother bore me?
12 Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?
Why did her knees welcome me? Why did her breasts receive me so that I should suck?
13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
For now I would have been lying down quietly. I would have slept and been at rest
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves,
with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins.
15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;
Or I would have been lying with princes who once had gold, who had filled their houses with silver.
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.
Or perhaps I would have been stillborn, like infants that never see the light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.
There the wicked cease from trouble; there the weary are at rest.
18 The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the slave driver.
19 The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.
Both small and great people are there; the servant is free from his master there.
20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,
Why is light given to him who is in misery? Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul,
21 Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
to one who longs for death without it coming; to one who digs for death more than for hidden treasure?
22 Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? —
Why is light given to one who rejoices very much and is glad when he finds the grave?
23 To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, a man whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.
For my sighing happens instead of eating; my groaning is poured out like water.
25 For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.
For the thing that I feared has come on me; what I was afraid of has come to me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.
I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest; trouble comes instead.”
