Job 3
1 After this Job has opened his mouth, and reviles his day.
After this Job began speaking, cursing the day of his birth.
2 And Job answers and says:
He said,
3 “Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.
“Wipe out the day I was born, and the night when it was announced that a boy had been conceived.
4 That day—let it be darkness, Do not let God require it from above, Nor let light shine on it.
Turn that day to darkness. God above should not remember it. Don't let light shine on 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.
Take it back, darkness and death-shadow. A black cloud should overshadow it. It should be as terrifying as the darkness of an eclipse during the day.
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.
Blot out that night as if it never existed. Don't count it on the calendar. Don't let it have a day in any month.
7 Behold! That night—let it be barren, Let no singing come into it.
Let that night be childless, with no sounds of happiness heard.
8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
Those who place curses on certain days should curse it, those who have the power to raise 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.
Its early morning stars should stay dark. Looking for light, may none come, may it not see the glimmer of dawn
10 Because it has not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from my eyes.
for it did not shut my mother's womb to prevent me from seeing trouble.
11 Why do I not die from the womb? I have come forth from the belly and gasp!
Why wasn't I stillborn? Why didn't I die at birth?
12 Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
Why was there a lap for me to lie on, or breasts for me to suck?
13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me,
For now I would be lying down in peace. I would be sleeping and at rest,
14 With kings and counselors of earth, These building ruins for themselves.
along with the kings of this world and their officials whose palaces now lie in ruins,
15 Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
or with noblemen who collected gold and filled their houses with silver.
16 (Or I am not as a hidden abortion, As infants—they have not seen light.)
Why wasn't I a miscarriage, buried in secret, a baby who never saw the light?
17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there the wearied rest in power.
There in the grave the wicked give no more trouble, and those whose strength is gone have their rest.
18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
There prisoners take it easy—they don't hear the commands of their oppressors.
19 Small and great [are] the same there. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
Both small and great are there, and slaves are freed from their masters.
20 Why does He give light to the miserable, and life to the bitter soul?
Why does God give life to those who are suffering, living bitterly miserable lives,
21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
those who are waiting for death that does not come and who are looking for death more desperately than hunting for treasure?
22 Who are glad—to joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
They're so incredibly happy when the reach the grave!
23 To a man whose way has been hidden, And whom God shuts up?
Why is light given to someone who doesn't know where they're going, someone God has fenced in?
24 For before my food, my sighing comes, And my roarings [are] poured out as waters.
My groans are the bread I eat; my raging tears are the water I drink.
25 For I feared a fear and it meets me, And what I was afraid of comes to me.
For all that I feared has happened to me; everything that I dreaded has come upon me.
26 I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble comes!”
I have no peace, no quiet, no rest. All that comes is rage.”
