Job 3
1 Post hæc aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
After this Job began speaking, cursing the day of his birth.
2 et locutus est.
He said,
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
“Wipe out the day I was born, and the night when it was announced that a boy had been conceived.
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
Turn that day to darkness. God above should not remember it. Don't let light shine on it.
5 Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
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 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
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 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
Let that night be childless, with no sounds of happiness heard.
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan:
Those who place curses on certain days should curse it, those who have the power to raise Leviathan.
9 Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ:
Its early morning stars should stay dark. Looking for light, may none come, may it not see the glimmer of dawn
10 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
for it did not shut my mother's womb to prevent me from seeing trouble.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
Why wasn't I stillborn? Why didn't I die at birth?
12 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
Why was there a lap for me to lie on, or breasts for me to suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
For now I would be lying down in peace. I would be sleeping and at rest,
14 Cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines:
along with the kings of this world and their officials whose palaces now lie in ruins,
15 Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
or with noblemen who collected gold and filled their houses with silver.
16 Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
Why wasn't I a miscarriage, buried in secret, a baby who never saw the light?
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There in the grave the wicked give no more trouble, and those whose strength is gone have their rest.
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
There prisoners take it easy—they don't hear the commands of their oppressors.
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
Both small and great are there, and slaves are freed from their masters.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animæ sunt?
Why does God give life to those who are suffering, living bitterly miserable lives,
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
those who are waiting for death that does not come and who are looking for death more desperately than hunting for treasure?
22 Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
They're so incredibly happy when the reach the grave!
23 Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
Why is light given to someone who doesn't know where they're going, someone God has fenced in?
24 Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:
My groans are the bread I eat; my raging tears are the water I drink.
25 Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
For all that I feared has happened to me; everything that I dreaded has come upon me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
I have no peace, no quiet, no rest. All that comes is rage.”
