Job 3
1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
After this Job has opened his mouth, and reviles his day.
2 And Job spoke, and said:
And Job answers and says:
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 am born, And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; let not God inquire after it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
That day—let it be darkness, Do not let God require it from above, Nor let light shine on 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.
Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud dwell on it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.
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.
That night—let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Let it not come into the number of months.
7 Lo, let that night be desolate; let no joyful voice come therein.
Behold! That night—let it be barren, Let no singing come into it.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
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 its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
Because it has not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from my eyes.
11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not perish at birth?
Why do I not die from the womb? I have come forth from the belly and gasp!
12 Why did the knees receive me? And wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?
Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest —
For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me,
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;
With kings and counselors of earth, These building ruins for themselves.
15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver;
Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.
(Or I am not as a hidden abortion, As infants—they have not seen light.)
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.
There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there the wearied rest in power.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
19 The small and great are there alike; and the servant is free from his master.
Small and great [are] the same there. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
20 Wherewith is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul —
Why does He give light to the miserable, and life to the bitter soul?
21 Who long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
22 Who rejoice unto exultation, and are glad, when they can find the grave? —
Who are glad—to joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
23 To a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
To a man whose way has been hidden, And whom God shuts up?
24 For my sighing cometh instead of my food, and my roarings are poured out like water.
For before my food, my sighing comes, And my roarings [are] poured out as waters.
25 For the thing which I did fear is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of hath overtaken me.
For I feared a fear and it meets me, And what I was afraid of comes to me.
26 I was not at ease, neither was I quiet, neither had I rest; but trouble came.
I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble comes!”
