< Job 3 >

1 Afterward Iob opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Iob cryed out, and sayd,
So then Job began, and said:
3 Let the day perish, wherein I was borne, and the night when it was sayde, There is a man childe conceiued.
Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
4 Let that day bee darkenesse, let not God regarde it from aboue, neyther let the light shine vpon it,
That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
5 But let darkenesse, and the shadowe of death staine it: let the cloude remayne vpon it, and let them make it fearefull as a bitter day.
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 darkenesse possesse that night, let it not be ioyned vnto the dayes of the yeere, nor let it come into the count of the moneths.
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 Yea, desolate be that night, and let no ioy be in it.
Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:
8 Let them that curse the day, (being readie to renue their mourning) curse it.
Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
9 Let the starres of that twilight be dimme through darkenesse of it: let it looke for light, but haue none: neither let it see 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 vp the dores of my mothers wombe: nor hid sorowe from mine eyes.
Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not in the birth? or why dyed I not, when I came out of the wombe?
Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?
12 Why did the knees preuent me? and why did I sucke the breasts?
For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
13 For so shoulde I now haue lyen and bene quiet, I should haue slept then, and bene at rest,
Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:
14 With the Kings and counselers of the earth, which haue buylded themselues desolate places:
With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
15 Or with the princes that had golde, and haue filled their houses with siluer.
Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
16 Or why was I not hid, as an vntimely birth, either as infants, which haue not seene the light?
Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:
17 The wicked haue there ceased from their tyrannie, and there they that laboured valiantly, are at rest.
There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
18 The prisoners rest together, and heare not the voyce of the oppressour.
At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
19 There are small and great, and the seruant is free from his master.
Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is the light giuen to him that is in miserie? and life vnto them that haue heauie hearts?
Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
21 Which long for death, and if it come not, they would euen search it more then treasures:
Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:
22 Which ioy for gladnes, and reioyce, when they can finde the graue.
Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
23 Why is the light giuen to the man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
24 For my sighing commeth before I eate, and my roarings are powred out like the water.
For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:
25 For the thing I feared, is come vpon me, and the thing that I was afraid of, is come vnto me.
For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
26 I had no peace, neither had I quietnesse, neither had I rest, yet trouble is come.
I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!

< Job 3 >