Job 3
1 After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
At length Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
2 So then Job began, and said:
And Job spake and said:
3 Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
Perish the day in which I was born, and the night which said, “A man-child is conceived!”
4 That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
Let that day be darkness; Let not God seek it from above; Yea, let not the 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 redeem it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let whatever darkeneth 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.
As for that night, let darkness 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:
O let that night be unfruitful! Let there be in it no voice of joy;
8 Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
Let them that curse the day curse it, Who are skilful to stir up the 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 darkened; Let it long for light, and have none; Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning!
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 my mother's womb, 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?
Why died I not at my birth? Why did I not expire when I came forth from the womb?
12 For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I might 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 lie down and be quiet; I should sleep; then should I be at rest,
14 With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up for themselves—ruins!
15 Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
Or with princes that had gold, And 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 perished; As infants which never saw the light.
17 There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
There the wicked cease from troubling; There the weary are at rest.
18 At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
There the prisoners rest together; They hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
The small and the great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
Why giveth He light to him that is in misery, And life to the bitter in 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 hid treasures;
22 Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
Who rejoice exceedingly, Yea, exult, when they can find a grave?
23 To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
Why is light given to a man from whom the way is hid, 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 I eat, And my groans are poured out like water.
25 For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
For that which I dread overtaketh me; That at which I shudder cometh upon me.
26 I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!
I have no peace, nor quiet, nor respite: Misery cometh upon me continually.
