Job 3
1 Post hæc aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
At length Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
2 et locutus est.
And Job spake and said:
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
Perish the day in which I was born, and the night which said, “A man-child is conceived!”
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
Let that day be darkness; Let not God seek it from above; Yea, let not the light shine upon it!
5 Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
Let darkness and the shadow of death redeem it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let whatever darkeneth the day terrify it!
6 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months!
7 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
O let that night be unfruitful! Let there be in it no voice of joy;
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan:
Let them that curse the day curse it, Who are skilful to stir up the leviathan!
9 Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis auroræ:
Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it long for light, and have none; Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning!
10 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, And hid not trouble from mine eyes.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
Why died I not at my birth? Why did I not expire when I came forth from the womb?
12 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I might suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
For now should I lie down and be quiet; I should sleep; then should I be at rest,
14 Cum regibus et consulibus terræ, qui ædificant sibi solitudines:
With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up for themselves—ruins!
15 Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
Or with princes that had gold, And filled their houses with silver;
16 Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
Or, as a hidden untimely birth, I had perished; As infants which never saw the light.
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There the wicked cease from troubling; There the weary are at rest.
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
There the prisoners rest together; They hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
The small and the great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animæ sunt?
Why giveth He light to him that is in misery, And life to the bitter in soul,
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
Who long for death, and it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
Who rejoice exceedingly, Yea, exult, when they can find a grave?
23 Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
Why is light given to a man from whom the way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
24 Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:
For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groans are poured out like water.
25 Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
For that which I dread overtaketh me; That at which I shudder cometh upon me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
I have no peace, nor quiet, nor respite: Misery cometh upon me continually.
