Job 3
1 After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.
After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Job answereth and saith: —
So then Job began, and said:
3 Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.'
Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
4 That day — let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.
That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
5 Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.
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:
6 That night — let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come.
That night, darkness take it, —May it not rejoice among the days of the year, Into the number of months, let it not enter.
7 Lo! that night — let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it.
Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:
8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.
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:
10 Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.
Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.
11 Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!
Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?
12 Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept — then there is rest to me,
Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:
14 With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.
With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
15 Or with princes — they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
16 (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants — they have not seen light.)
Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:
17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.
There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
19 Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
20 Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?
Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:
22 Who are glad — unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
23 To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?
To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
24 For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings.
For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:
25 For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.
For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
26 I was not safe — nor was I quiet — Nor was I at rest — and trouble cometh!
I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!
