Job 3
1 After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Post hæc aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
2 So then Job began, and said:
et locutus est.
3 Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
4 That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
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:
Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
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.
Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
7 Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:
Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
8 Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare 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:
Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ:
10 Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.
Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
11 Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?
Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
12 For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
13 Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:
Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
14 With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
Cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines:
15 Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
16 Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:
Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
17 There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
18 At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
19 Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
20 Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animæ sunt?
21 Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:
qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
22 Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
23 To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
24 For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:
Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:
25 For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
26 I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!
Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
