UJobe 3
1 Emva kwalokho uJobe wavula umlomo wakhe, waqalekisa usuku lwakhe.
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
2 UJobe wasephendula wathi:
Job answered:
3 Kalubhubhe usuku engazalwa ngalo, lobusuku okwathiwa ngalo: Kukhulelwe umntwana wesilisa.
“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’
4 Lolosuku kalube ngumnyama, uNkulunkulu angalunanzi ephezulu, lokukhanya kungalukhanyisi.
Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on 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 on it. Let all that makes the day black terrify it.
6 Lobobusuku, umnyama ububambe, lungathokozi ensukwini zomnyaka, lungezi kunani lezinyanga.
As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice amongst the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Khangela, lobobusuku kabube yinyumba, umsindo wentokozo ungangeni kubo.
Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.
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 its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,
10 Ngoba bungavalanga iminyango yesisu sikamama wami, bungafihlanga usizi emehlweni ami.
because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Kungani ngingafanga kusukela esizalweni, ngiphele ekuphumeni kwami esiswini?
“Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I 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 nurse?
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 counsellors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;
15 kumbe kanye leziphathamandla ezazilegolide ezagcwalisa izindlu zazo ngesiliva.
or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;
16 Kumbe njengomphunzo ofihliweyo ngingabi khona, njengensane ezingabonanga ukukhanya.
or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.
17 Lapho ababi bayekela ukuhlupha, lapho abakhathele ngamandla bephumula.
There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.
18 Izibotshwa ziyaphumula ndawonye, kazizwa ilizwi lomcindezeli.
There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 Omncinyane lomkhulu balapho, lesigqili sikhululekile enkosini yaso.
The small and the great are there. 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, life to the bitter in soul,
21 abalindele ukufa, kodwa kungekho, bekugebha kulenotho efihliweyo,
who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden 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 hidden, whom God has hedged in?
24 Ngoba ukububula kwami kuza phambi kokudla kwami, lokubhonga kwami kuthululeka njengamanzi.
For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.
25 Ngoba engikwesabayo ngokwesaba sekungehlele, lengilovalo ngakho kufikile kimi.
For the thing which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid of comes to me.
26 Ngangingahlalisekanga, ngingaphumuli, ngingelakuthula, lohlupho lweza.
I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes.”
