Job 3
1 After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Emva kwalokho uJobe wavula umlomo wakhe, waqalekisa usuku lwakhe.
2 So then Job began, and said:
UJobe wasephendula wathi:
3 Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
Kalubhubhe usuku engazalwa ngalo, lobusuku okwathiwa ngalo: Kukhulelwe umntwana wesilisa.
4 That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
Lolosuku kalube ngumnyama, uNkulunkulu angalunanzi ephezulu, lokukhanya kungalukhanyisi.
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:
Umnyama lethunzi lokufa kakuluhlenge, iyezi lihlale phezu kwalo, umnyama welanga ulwesabise.
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.
Lobobusuku, umnyama ububambe, lungathokozi ensukwini zomnyaka, lungezi kunani lezinyanga.
7 Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:
Khangela, lobobusuku kabube yinyumba, umsindo wentokozo ungangeni kubo.
8 Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
Kababuqalekise abaqalekisi bosuku, abalungele ukuvusa uLeviyathani.
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:
Zibe mnyama inkanyezi zokusa kwabo, bulindele ukukhanya, kodwa kungabi khona, bungaboni inkophe zokusa.
10 Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.
Ngoba bungavalanga iminyango yesisu sikamama wami, bungafihlanga usizi emehlweni ami.
11 Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?
Kungani ngingafanga kusukela esizalweni, ngiphele ekuphumeni kwami esiswini?
12 For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
Kungani amadolo angandulela? Kungani lamabele ukuthi ngimunye?
13 Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:
Ngoba khathesi ngabe ngacambalala ngathula, ngalala, khona ngaba lokuphumula,
14 With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
kanye lamakhosi labeluleki bomhlaba abazakhela amanxiwa,
15 Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
kumbe kanye leziphathamandla ezazilegolide ezagcwalisa izindlu zazo ngesiliva.
16 Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:
Kumbe njengomphunzo ofihliweyo ngingabi khona, njengensane ezingabonanga ukukhanya.
17 There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
Lapho ababi bayekela ukuhlupha, lapho abakhathele ngamandla bephumula.
18 At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
Izibotshwa ziyaphumula ndawonye, kazizwa ilizwi lomcindezeli.
19 Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
Omncinyane lomkhulu balapho, lesigqili sikhululekile enkosini yaso.
20 Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
Kungani enika ukukhanya kohluphekayo, lempilo kwabalokubaba komphefumulo;
21 Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:
abalindele ukufa, kodwa kungekho, bekugebha kulenotho efihliweyo,
22 Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
abathabayo kakhulu ngentokozo, bajabule lapho bethola ingcwaba?
23 To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
Emuntwini yini, ondlela yakhe ifihliwe, uNkulunkulu ambiyeleyo?
24 For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:
Ngoba ukububula kwami kuza phambi kokudla kwami, lokubhonga kwami kuthululeka njengamanzi.
25 For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
Ngoba engikwesabayo ngokwesaba sekungehlele, lengilovalo ngakho kufikile kimi.
26 I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!
Ngangingahlalisekanga, ngingaphumuli, ngingelakuthula, lohlupho lweza.
