Job 3

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

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

2 So then Job began, and said:

And Job answered and said,

3 Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!

Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived.

4 That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:

That day — let it be darkness, let not God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

5 Let darkness and death-shade buy it back, May there settle down upon it a cloud, Let a day’s dark eclipse cause it terror:

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it.

6 That night, darkness take it, —May it not rejoice among the days of the year, Into the number of months, let it not enter.

That night — let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

7 Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:

Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein;

8 Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan;

9 Darkened be the stars of its twilight, —Let it wait for light, and there be none, neither let it see the eyelashes of the dawn:

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn:

10 Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.

Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

11 Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?

Wherefore did I not die from the womb, — come forth from the belly and expire?

12 For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?

Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

13 Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:

For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:

With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves,

15 Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:

Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

16 Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:

Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

17 There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:

There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.

18 At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:

The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

19 Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.

The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

20 Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—

Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,

21 Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:

Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

22 Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:

Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? —

23 To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?

To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?

24 For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:

For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

25 For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.

For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.

26 I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!

I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.