Job 3
1 Aftir these thingis Joob openyde his mouth,
After this time Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 and curside his dai, and seide, Perische the dai in which Y was borun,
And Job commenced, and said,
3 and the nyyt in which it was seid, The man is conceyued.
Oh that the day whereon I was born might perish, and the night when it was said, There hath been a male child conceived.
4 Thilke dai be turnede in to derknessis; God seke not it aboue, and be it not in mynde, nethir be it liytned with liyt.
May that day be [covered with] darkness; may not God from above inquire for it, and may no light beam upon it.
5 Derknessis make it derk, and the schadewe of deeth and myist occupie it; and be it wlappid with bittirnesse.
Oh that darkness and the shadow of death might defile it; may a cloud rest upon it; may the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 Derk whirlwynde holde that niyt; be it not rikynyd among the daies of the yeer, nethir be it noumbrid among the monethes.
Yon night — let darkness seize upon it; let it not be united to the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the [periods lighted by the] moon.
7 Thilke nyyt be soleyn, and not worthi of preisyng.
Lo, may that night be solitary, let no song of joy occur thereon.
8 Curse thei it, that cursen the dai, that ben redi to reise Leuyathan.
Let those denounce it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning cry.
9 Sterris be maad derk with the derknesse therof; abide it liyt, and se it not, nethir the bigynnyng of the morwetid risyng vp.
Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; let it hope for light, and there be none; and let it not behold the eyelids of the morning-dawn;
10 For it closide not the doris of the wombe, that bar me, nethir took awei yuels fro min iyen.
Because God closed not against me the doors of the womb, and thus concealed trouble from my eyes.
11 Whi was not Y deed in the wombe? whi yede Y out of the wombe, and perischide not anoon?
Why did I not die [the moment I issued] from the womb, and [why] was I not born merely to perish at once?
12 Whi was Y takun on knees? whi was Y suclid with teetis?
Wherefore were knees ready to receive me? and for what purpose were breasts there that I might suck?
13 For now Y slepynge schulde be stille, and schulde reste in my sleep,
For now should I be lying still and be quiet; I should sleep: then would I be at rest,
14 with kyngis, and consuls of erthe, that bilden to hem soleyn places;
With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build up ruined places for themselves;
15 ethir with prynces that han gold in possessioun, and fillen her housis with siluer;
Or with princes possessing gold, who fill their houses with silver;
16 ethir as a `thing hid not borun Y schulde not stonde, ethir whiche conseyued sien not liyt.
Or as an untimely birth, hidden [from view] I should not exist; as infants that never have seen the light;
17 There wickid men ceessiden of noise, and there men maad wery of strengthe restiden.
There [where] the wicked cease from troubling; and where the exhausted weary are at rest;
18 And sum tyme boundun togidere with out disese thei herden not the voys of the wrongful axere.
[Where] the prisoners repose together, [and] they hear no more the taskmaster's voice.
19 A litil man and greet man be there, and a seruaunt free fro his lord.
The small with the great is there, and the servant free from his master.
20 Whi is liyt youun to the wretche, and lijf to hem that ben in bitternesse of soule?
Wherefore giveth He now light to the labor-laden, and life unto the bitter in soul?
21 Whiche abiden deeth, and it cometh not;
Who wait for death, which [cometh] not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures;
22 as men diggynge out tresour and ioien greetly, whanne thei han founde a sepulcre?
Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave?
23 Whi is liyt youun to a man, whos weie is hid, and God hath cumpassid hym with derknessis?
[Why is light given] to a man whose way is hidden, and around whom God hath placed a fence?
24 Bifore that Y ete, Y siyhe; and as of watir flowynge, so is my roryng.
For before my food cometh my groaning, and like the water are poured forth my loud complaints.
25 For the drede, which Y dredde, cam to me; and that, that Y schamede, bifelde.
Because what I greatly dreaded is come upon me, and what I apprehended is come unto me.
26 Whether Y dissymilide not? whether Y was not stille? whether Y restide not? and indignacioun cometh on me.
I have had no safety, and no quiet, and no rest; and [now] harrowing trouble is come.
