Job 3
1 Post hæc aperuit Job os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
After this time Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 et locutus est:
And Job commenced, and said,
3 [Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
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 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras: non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
May that day be [covered with] darkness; may not God from above inquire for it, and may no light beam upon it.
5 Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis; occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
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 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat; non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus.
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 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna.
Lo, may that night be solitary, let no song of joy occur thereon.
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan.
Let those denounce it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning cry.
9 Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine ejus; expectet lucem, et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ.
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 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
Because God closed not against me the doors of the womb, and thus concealed trouble from my eyes.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum? egressus ex utero non statim perii?
Why did I not die [the moment I issued] from the womb, and [why] was I not born merely to perish at once?
12 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
Wherefore were knees ready to receive me? and for what purpose were breasts there that I might suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem
For now should I be lying still and be quiet; I should sleep: then would I be at rest,
14 cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines;
With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build up ruined places for themselves;
15 aut cum principibus qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento;
Or with princes possessing gold, who fill their houses with silver;
16 aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
Or as an untimely birth, hidden [from view] I should not exist; as infants that never have seen the light;
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There [where] the wicked cease from troubling; and where the exhausted weary are at rest;
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
[Where] the prisoners repose together, [and] they hear no more the taskmaster's voice.
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
The small with the great is there, and the servant free from his master.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his qui in amaritudine animæ sunt:
Wherefore giveth He now light to the labor-laden, and life unto the bitter in soul?
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum;
Who wait for death, which [cometh] not; and who dig for it sooner than for hidden treasures;
22 gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum?
Who would rejoice even to exulting, who would be glad could they but find a grave?
23 viro cujus abscondita est via et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
[Why is light given] to a man whose way is hidden, and around whom God hath placed a fence?
24 Antequam comedam, suspiro; et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:
For before my food cometh my groaning, and like the water are poured forth my loud complaints.
25 quia timor quem timebam evenit mihi, et quod verebar accidit.
Because what I greatly dreaded is come upon me, and what I apprehended is come unto me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.]
I have had no safety, and no quiet, and no rest; and [now] harrowing trouble is come.
