Job 3

1 After this Job has opened his mouth, and reviles his day.

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

2 And Job answers and says:

saying,

3 “Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.

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

4 That day—let it be darkness, Do not let God require it from above, Nor let light shine on 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 death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud dwell on it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.

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

6 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.

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 Behold! That night—let it be barren, Let no singing come into it.

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

8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake 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 its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.

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 has not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from my 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 do I not die from the womb? I have come forth from the belly and gasp!

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

12 Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?

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

13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me,

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

14 With kings and counselors of earth, These building ruins for themselves.

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

15 Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.

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

16 (Or I am not as a hidden abortion, As infants—they have not seen 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 have ceased troubling, And there the wearied rest in power.

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

18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,

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

19 Small and great [are] the same there. And a servant [is] free from his lord.

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

20 Why does He give light to the miserable, and life to the bitter soul?

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

21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

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

22 Who are glad—to joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.

and would be very joyful if they should gain it?

23 To a man whose way has been hidden, And whom God shuts up?

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

24 For before my food, my sighing comes, And my roarings [are] poured out as waters.

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

25 For I feared a fear and it meets me, And what I was afraid of comes to 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 safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble comes!”

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