Job 3
1 Post haec aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 et locutus est.
So then Job began, and said:
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:
5 Obscurent eum tenebrae et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
Let darkness and death-shade buy it back, May there settle down upon it a cloud, Let a day’s dark eclipse cause it terror:
6 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
That night, darkness take it, —May it not rejoice among the days of the year, Into the number of months, let it not enter.
7 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan:
Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:
9 Obtenebrentur stellae caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis aurorae:
Darkened be the stars of its twilight, —Let it wait for light, and there be none, neither let it see the eyelashes of the dawn:
10 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?
12 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:
14 Cum regibus et consulibus terrae, qui aedificant sibi solitudines:
With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:
15 Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:
16 Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animae sunt?
Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:
22 Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:
23 Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?
24 Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquae, sic rugitus meus:
For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:
25 Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!
