< Job 3 >

1 After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Job answereth and saith: —
And Job spoke, and said,
3 Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.'
Let the day perish when I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 That day — let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.
Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
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 the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
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.
As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined to the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Lo! that night — let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it.
Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come in it.
8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
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.
Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.
Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from my eyes.
11 Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!
Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the womb?
12 Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts that I should be nursed?
13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept — then there is rest to me,
For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.
With kings and counsellors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves;
15 Or with princes — they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
16 (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants — they have not seen light.)
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.
There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.
18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
20 Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?
Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul;
21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
Who long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Who are glad — unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
Who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
24 For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings.
For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.
For the thing which I greatly feared hath come upon me, and that which I feared hath come to me.
26 I was not safe — nor was I quiet — Nor was I at rest — and trouble cometh!
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

< Job 3 >