Ἰώβ 3
1 μετὰ τοῦτο ἤνοιξεν Ιωβ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ
After this Job began speaking, cursing the day of his birth.
2 καὶ κατηράσατο τὴν ἡμέραν αὐτοῦ λέγων
He said,
3 ἀπόλοιτο ἡ ἡμέρα ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθην καὶ ἡ νύξ ἐν ᾗ εἶπαν ἰδοὺ ἄρσεν
“Wipe out the day I was born, and the night when it was announced that a boy had been conceived.
4 ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη εἴη σκότος καὶ μὴ ἀναζητήσαι αὐτὴν ὁ κύριος ἄνωθεν μηδὲ ἔλθοι εἰς αὐτὴν φέγγος
Turn that day to darkness. God above should not remember it. Don't let light shine on it.
5 ἐκλάβοι δὲ αὐτὴν σκότος καὶ σκιὰ θανάτου ἐπέλθοι ἐπ’ αὐτὴν γνόφος
Take it back, darkness and death-shadow. A black cloud should overshadow it. It should be as terrifying as the darkness of an eclipse during the day.
6 καταραθείη ἡ ἡμέρα καὶ ἡ νὺξ ἐκείνη ἀπενέγκαιτο αὐτὴν σκότος μὴ εἴη εἰς ἡμέρας ἐνιαυτοῦ μηδὲ ἀριθμηθείη εἰς ἡμέρας μηνῶν
Blot out that night as if it never existed. Don't count it on the calendar. Don't let it have a day in any month.
7 ἀλλὰ ἡ νὺξ ἐκείνη εἴη ὀδύνη καὶ μὴ ἔλθοι ἐπ’ αὐτὴν εὐφροσύνη μηδὲ χαρμονή
Let that night be childless, with no sounds of happiness heard.
8 ἀλλὰ καταράσαιτο αὐτὴν ὁ καταρώμενος τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ὁ μέλλων τὸ μέγα κῆτος χειρώσασθαι
Those who place curses on certain days should curse it, those who have the power to raise Leviathan.
9 σκοτωθείη τὰ ἄστρα τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης ὑπομείναι καὶ εἰς φωτισμὸν μὴ ἔλθοι καὶ μὴ ἴδοι ἑωσφόρον ἀνατέλλοντα
Its early morning stars should stay dark. Looking for light, may none come, may it not see the glimmer of dawn
10 ὅτι οὐ συνέκλεισεν πύλας γαστρὸς μητρός μου ἀπήλλαξεν γὰρ ἂν πόνον ἀπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν μου
for it did not shut my mother's womb to prevent me from seeing trouble.
11 διὰ τί γὰρ ἐν κοιλίᾳ οὐκ ἐτελεύτησα ἐκ γαστρὸς δὲ ἐξῆλθον καὶ οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀπωλόμην
Why wasn't I stillborn? Why didn't I die at birth?
12 ἵνα τί δὲ συνήντησάν μοι γόνατα ἵνα τί δὲ μαστοὺς ἐθήλασα
Why was there a lap for me to lie on, or breasts for me to suck?
13 νῦν ἂν κοιμηθεὶς ἡσύχασα ὑπνώσας δὲ ἀνεπαυσάμην
For now I would be lying down in peace. I would be sleeping and at rest,
14 μετὰ βασιλέων βουλευτῶν γῆς οἳ ἠγαυριῶντο ἐπὶ ξίφεσιν
along with the kings of this world and their officials whose palaces now lie in ruins,
15 ἢ μετὰ ἀρχόντων ὧν πολὺς ὁ χρυσός οἳ ἔπλησαν τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν ἀργυρίου
or with noblemen who collected gold and filled their houses with silver.
16 ἢ ὥσπερ ἔκτρωμα ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ μήτρας μητρὸς ἢ ὥσπερ νήπιοι οἳ οὐκ εἶδον φῶς
Why wasn't I a miscarriage, buried in secret, a baby who never saw the light?
17 ἐκεῖ ἀσεβεῖς ἐξέκαυσαν θυμὸν ὀργῆς ἐκεῖ ἀνεπαύσαντο κατάκοποι τῷ σώματι
There in the grave the wicked give no more trouble, and those whose strength is gone have their rest.
18 ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ οἱ αἰώνιοι οὐκ ἤκουσαν φωνὴν φορολόγου
There prisoners take it easy—they don't hear the commands of their oppressors.
19 μικρὸς καὶ μέγας ἐκεῖ ἐστιν καὶ θεράπων οὐ δεδοικὼς τὸν κύριον αὐτοῦ
Both small and great are there, and slaves are freed from their masters.
20 ἵνα τί γὰρ δέδοται τοῖς ἐν πικρίᾳ φῶς ζωὴ δὲ ταῖς ἐν ὀδύναις ψυχαῖς
Why does God give life to those who are suffering, living bitterly miserable lives,
21 οἳ ὁμείρονται τοῦ θανάτου καὶ οὐ τυγχάνουσιν ἀνορύσσοντες ὥσπερ θησαυρούς
those who are waiting for death that does not come and who are looking for death more desperately than hunting for treasure?
22 περιχαρεῖς δὲ ἐγένοντο ἐὰν κατατύχωσιν
They're so incredibly happy when the reach the grave!
23 θάνατος ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυμα συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς κατ’ αὐτοῦ
Why is light given to someone who doesn't know where they're going, someone God has fenced in?
24 πρὸ γὰρ τῶν σίτων μου στεναγμός μοι ἥκει δακρύω δὲ ἐγὼ συνεχόμενος φόβῳ
My groans are the bread I eat; my raging tears are the water I drink.
25 φόβος γάρ ὃν ἐφρόντισα ἦλθέν μοι καὶ ὃν ἐδεδοίκειν συνήντησέν μοι
For all that I feared has happened to me; everything that I dreaded has come upon me.
26 οὔτε εἰρήνευσα οὔτε ἡσύχασα οὔτε ἀνεπαυσάμην ἦλθεν δέ μοι ὀργή
I have no peace, no quiet, no rest. All that comes is rage.”
