< UJobe 3 >

1 Emva kwalokho uJobe wavula umlomo wakhe, waqalekisa usuku lwakhe.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 UJobe wasephendula wathi:
And Job answered and said,
3 Kalubhubhe usuku engazalwa ngalo, lobusuku okwathiwa ngalo: Kukhulelwe umntwana wesilisa.
Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.
4 Lolosuku kalube ngumnyama, uNkulunkulu angalunanzi ephezulu, lokukhanya kungalukhanyisi.
Let that day be darkness. Let not God from above seek for it, nor let the light shine upon it.
5 Umnyama lethunzi lokufa kakuluhlenge, iyezi lihlale phezu kwalo, umnyama welanga ulwesabise.
Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell upon it. Let blackness come upon it.
6 Lobobusuku, umnyama ububambe, lungathokozi ensukwini zomnyaka, lungezi kunani lezinyanga.
As for that night, let thick 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 Khangela, lobobusuku kabube yinyumba, umsindo wentokozo ungangeni kubo.
Lo, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come in it.
8 Kababuqalekise abaqalekisi bosuku, abalungele ukuvusa uLeviyathani.
Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
9 Zibe mnyama inkanyezi zokusa kwabo, bulindele ukukhanya, kodwa kungabi khona, bungaboni inkophe zokusa.
Let the stars of the twilight of it be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, nor let it behold the eyelids of the morning.
10 Ngoba bungavalanga iminyango yesisu sikamama wami, bungafihlanga usizi emehlweni ami.
Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Kungani ngingafanga kusukela esizalweni, ngiphele ekuphumeni kwami esiswini?
Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not give up the spirit when my mother bore me?
12 Kungani amadolo angandulela? Kungani lamabele ukuthi ngimunye?
Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?
13 Ngoba khathesi ngabe ngacambalala ngathula, ngalala, khona ngaba lokuphumula,
For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept. Then I would have been at rest
14 kanye lamakhosi labeluleki bomhlaba abazakhela amanxiwa,
with kings and counselors of the earth, who built waste places for themselves,
15 kumbe kanye leziphathamandla ezazilegolide ezagcwalisa izindlu zazo ngesiliva.
or with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Kumbe njengomphunzo ofihliweyo ngingabi khona, njengensane ezingabonanga ukukhanya.
Or I should have been as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never saw light.
17 Lapho ababi bayekela ukuhlupha, lapho abakhathele ngamandla bephumula.
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
18 Izibotshwa ziyaphumula ndawonye, kazizwa ilizwi lomcindezeli.
There the prisoners are at ease together. They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 Omncinyane lomkhulu balapho, lesigqili sikhululekile enkosini yaso.
The small and the great are there. And the servant is free from his master.
20 Kungani enika ukukhanya kohluphekayo, lempilo kwabalokubaba komphefumulo;
Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
21 abalindele ukufa, kodwa kungekho, bekugebha kulenotho efihliweyo,
who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures,
22 abathabayo kakhulu ngentokozo, bajabule lapho bethola ingcwaba?
who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?
23 Emuntwini yini, ondlela yakhe ifihliwe, uNkulunkulu ambiyeleyo?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God has hedged in?
24 Ngoba ukububula kwami kuza phambi kokudla kwami, lokubhonga kwami kuthululeka njengamanzi.
For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 Ngoba engikwesabayo ngokwesaba sekungehlele, lengilovalo ngakho kufikile kimi.
For the thing which I fear comes upon me, and that which I am afraid of comes to me.
26 Ngangingahlalisekanga, ngingaphumuli, ngingelakuthula, lohlupho lweza.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, neither have I rest, but trouble comes.

< UJobe 3 >