Job 3
1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
2 saying,
Job answered:
3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a boy!
“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’
4 Let that night be darkness, and let not the Lord regard it from above, neither let light come upon it.
Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.
5 But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; let blackness come upon it;
Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes the day black 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, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice amongst the days of the year. Let 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.
Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.
8 But let him that curses that day curse it, [even] he that is ready to attack the great whale.
Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse 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:
Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,
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 didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it 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 didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?
12 and why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse?
13 Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,
For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest,
14 with kings [and] councillors of the earth, who gloried in [their] swords;
with kings and counsellors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;
15 or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, who filled their houses with silver:
or with princes who had gold, who 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 as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.
17 There the ungodly have burnt out the fury of rage; there the wearied in body rest.
There the wicked cease from troubling. 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 don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and great are there, and the servant that feared his lord.
The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.
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, life to the bitter in soul,
21 who desire death, and obtain it not, digging [for it] as [for] treasures;
who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22 and would be very joyful if they should gain it?
who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find 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, whom God has hedged in?
24 For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.
For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are 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 which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid of comes to me.
26 I was not at peace, nor quiet, nor had I rest; yet wrath came upon me.
I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes.”
