Job 3

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

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

2 And he said:

So then Job began, and said:

3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!

4 Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:

5 Let darkness, and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

Let darkness and death-shade buy it back, May there settle down upon it a cloud, Let a day’s dark eclipse cause it terror:

6 Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

That night, darkness take it, —May it not rejoice among the days of the year, Into the number of months, let it not enter.

7 Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:

8 Let them curse it who curse the day. who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:

9 Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

Darkened be the stars of its twilight, —Let it wait for light, and there be none, neither let it see the eyelashes of the dawn:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.

11 Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?

12 Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?

13 For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep.

Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:

14 With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:

15 Or with princes, that possess gold, and All their houses with silver:

Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I should not be, or as they that being conceived have not seen the light.

Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:

17 There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:

18 And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:

19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.

20 Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—

21 That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:

22 And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave.

Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:

23 To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?

24 Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:

25 For the fear which I feared hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.

26 Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.

I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!