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:
and this is what he said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.
May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”
4 That day—let it be darkness, Do not let God require it from above, Nor let light shine on it.
May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate 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.
Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness.
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 a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.
7 Behold! That night—let it be barren, Let no singing come into it.
May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.
8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan.
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 be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East.
10 Because it has not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from my eyes.
For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes.
11 Why do I not die from the womb? I have come forth from the belly and gasp!
Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish?
12 Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?
13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me,
For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep
14 With kings and counselors of earth, These building ruins for themselves.
with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes,
15 Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver,
16 (Or I am not as a hidden abortion, As infants—they have not seen light.)
or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.
17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there the wearied rest in power.
There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest.
18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff.
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 is free from his master.
20 Why does He give light to the miserable, and life to the bitter soul?
Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,
21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure
22 Who are glad—to joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,
23 To a man whose way has been hidden, And whom God shuts up?
to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?
24 For before my food, my sighing comes, And my roarings [are] poured out as waters.
Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl,
25 For I feared a fear and it meets me, And what I was afraid of comes to me.
for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me.
26 I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble comes!”
Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.
