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 saying,
He said,
3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a boy!
“May the day on which I was born perish, the night that said, 'A boy has been conceived.'
4 Let that night be darkness, and let not the Lord regard it from above, neither let light come upon it.
May that day be dark; may not God from above call it to mind, neither may the sun shine on it.
5 But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; let blackness come upon 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 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.
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 But let that night be pain, and let not mirth come upon it, nor joy.
See, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
8 But let him that curses that day curse it, [even] he that is ready to attack the great whale.
May they curse that day, those who know how to wake up Leviathan.
9 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:
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 gates of my mother's womb, for [so] it would have removed sorrow from my 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 For why died I not in the belly? and [why] did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?
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 and why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?
Why did her knees welcome me? Why did her breasts receive me so that I should suck?
13 Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,
For now I would have been lying down quietly. I would have slept and been at rest
14 with kings [and] councillors of the earth, who gloried in [their] swords;
with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins.
15 or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, 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 [I should have been] as an untimely birth proceeding from his mother's womb, or as infants who never saw light.
Or perhaps I would have been stillborn, like infants that never see the light.
17 There the ungodly have burnt out the fury of rage; there the wearied in body rest.
There the wicked cease from trouble; there the weary are at rest.
18 And the men of old time have together ceased to hear the exactor's voice.
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 servant that feared his lord.
Both small and great people are there; the servant is free from his master there.
20 For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, and life to those souls which are in griefs?
Why is light given to him who is in misery? Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul,
21 who desire death, and obtain it not, digging [for it] as [for] treasures;
to one who longs for death without it coming; to one who digs for death more than for hidden treasure?
22 and would be very joyful if they should gain it?
Why is light given to one who rejoices very much and is glad when he finds the grave?
23 Death [is] rest to [such] a man, for God has hedged him in.
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, a man whom God has hedged in?
24 For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.
For my sighing happens instead of eating; my groaning is poured out like water.
25 For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, and that which I had feared has befallen me.
For the thing that I feared has come on me; what I was afraid of has come to me.
26 I was not at peace, nor quiet, nor had I rest; yet wrath came upon me.
I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest; trouble comes instead.”
