< UJobe 3 >

1 Emva kwalokho uJobe wavula umlomo wakhe, waqalekisa usuku lwakhe.
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 UJobe wasephendula wathi:
And Job spake, and said,
3 Kalubhubhe usuku engazalwa ngalo, lobusuku okwathiwa ngalo: Kukhulelwe umntwana wesilisa.
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 Lolosuku kalube ngumnyama, uNkulunkulu angalunanzi ephezulu, lokukhanya kungalukhanyisi.
Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither 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 stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 Lobobusuku, umnyama ububambe, lungathokozi ensukwini zomnyaka, lungezi kunani lezinyanga.
As [for] that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto 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 solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
8 Kababuqalekise abaqalekisi bosuku, abalungele ukuvusa uLeviyathani.
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
9 Zibe mnyama inkanyezi zokusa kwabo, bulindele ukukhanya, kodwa kungabi khona, bungaboni inkophe zokusa.
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but [have] none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 Ngoba bungavalanga iminyango yesisu sikamama wami, bungafihlanga usizi emehlweni ami.
Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother’s] womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
11 Kungani ngingafanga kusukela esizalweni, ngiphele ekuphumeni kwami esiswini?
Why died I not from the womb? [why] did I [not] give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
12 Kungani amadolo angandulela? Kungani lamabele ukuthi ngimunye?
Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?
13 Ngoba khathesi ngabe ngacambalala ngathula, ngalala, khona ngaba lokuphumula,
For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 kanye lamakhosi labeluleki bomhlaba abazakhela amanxiwa,
With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;
15 kumbe kanye leziphathamandla ezazilegolide ezagcwalisa izindlu zazo ngesiliva.
Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
16 Kumbe njengomphunzo ofihliweyo ngingabi khona, njengensane ezingabonanga ukukhanya.
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants [which] never saw light.
17 Lapho ababi bayekela ukuhlupha, lapho abakhathele ngamandla bephumula.
There the wicked cease [from] troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
18 Izibotshwa ziyaphumula ndawonye, kazizwa ilizwi lomcindezeli.
[There] the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 Omncinyane lomkhulu balapho, lesigqili sikhululekile enkosini yaso.
The small and great are there; and the servant [is] free from his master.
20 Kungani enika ukukhanya kohluphekayo, lempilo kwabalokubaba komphefumulo;
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter [in] soul;
21 abalindele ukufa, kodwa kungekho, bekugebha kulenotho efihliweyo,
Which long for death, but it [cometh] not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 abathabayo kakhulu ngentokozo, bajabule lapho bethola ingcwaba?
Which 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 hath hedged in?
24 Ngoba ukububula kwami kuza phambi kokudla kwami, lokubhonga kwami kuthululeka njengamanzi.
For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 Ngoba engikwesabayo ngokwesaba sekungehlele, lengilovalo ngakho kufikile kimi.
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 Ngangingahlalisekanga, ngingaphumuli, ngingelakuthula, lohlupho lweza.
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

< UJobe 3 >