Job 3

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

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

2 And Job spoke, and said:

saying,

3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night wherein it was said: 'A man-child is brought forth.'

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

4 Let that day be darkness; let not God inquire after it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

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

5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that maketh black the day terrify it.

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

6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

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.

7 Lo, let that night be desolate; let no joyful voice come therein.

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

8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

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

9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning;

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:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid trouble from mine eyes.

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

11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not perish at birth?

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

12 Why did the knees receive me? And wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

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

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest —

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

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;

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

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

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

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.

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

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.

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

18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

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

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

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

20 Wherewith is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul —

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

21 Who long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

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

22 Who rejoice unto exultation, and are glad, when they can find the grave? —

and would be very joyful if they should gain it?

23 To a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

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

24 For my sighing cometh instead of my food, and my roarings are poured out like water.

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

25 For the thing which I did fear is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of hath overtaken me.

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

26 I was not at ease, neither was I quiet, neither had I rest; but trouble came.

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