Job 3
1 Post haec aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
After this Job has opened his mouth, and reviles his day.
2 et locutus est.
And Job answers and says:
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
“Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
That day—let it be darkness, Do not let God require it from above, Nor let light shine on it.
5 Obscurent eum tenebrae et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud dwell on it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.
6 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
That night—let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Let it not come into the number of months.
7 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
Behold! That night—let it be barren, Let no singing come into it.
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan:
Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
9 Obtenebrentur stellae caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis aurorae:
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.
10 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
Because it has not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from my eyes.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
Why do I not die from the womb? I have come forth from the belly and gasp!
12 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
Why have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me,
14 Cum regibus et consulibus terrae, qui aedificant sibi solitudines:
With kings and counselors of earth, These building ruins for themselves.
15 Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
16 Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
(Or I am not as a hidden abortion, As infants—they have not seen light.)
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there the wearied rest in power.
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
Small and great [are] the same there. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animae sunt?
Why does He give light to the miserable, and life to the bitter soul?
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
22 Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
Who are glad—to joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
23 Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
To a man whose way has been hidden, And whom God shuts up?
24 Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquae, sic rugitus meus:
For before my food, my sighing comes, And my roarings [are] poured out as waters.
25 Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
For I feared a fear and it meets me, And what I was afraid of comes to me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble comes!”
