Job 3

1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.

After this Job began speaking, cursing the day of his birth.

2 And Job answered and said,

He said,

3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived.

“Wipe out the day I was born, and the night when it was announced that a boy had been conceived.

4 That day — let it be darkness, let not God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

Turn that day to darkness. God above should not remember it. Don't let light shine on it.

5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it.

Take it back, darkness and death-shadow. A black cloud should overshadow it. It should be as terrifying as the darkness of an eclipse during the day.

6 That night — let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

Blot out that night as if it never existed. Don't count it on the calendar. Don't let it have a day in any month.

7 Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein;

Let that night be childless, with no sounds of happiness heard.

8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan;

Those who place curses on certain days should curse it, those who have the power to raise Leviathan.

9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn:

Its early morning stars should stay dark. Looking for light, may none come, may it not see the glimmer of dawn

10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

for it did not shut my mother's womb to prevent me from seeing trouble.

11 Wherefore did I not die from the womb, — come forth from the belly and expire?

Why wasn't I stillborn? Why didn't I die at birth?

12 Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

Why was there a lap for me to lie on, or breasts for me to suck?

13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

For now I would be lying down in peace. I would be sleeping and at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves,

along with the kings of this world and their officials whose palaces now lie in ruins,

15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

or with noblemen who collected gold and filled their houses with silver.

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

Why wasn't I a miscarriage, buried in secret, a baby who never saw the light?

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.

There in the grave the wicked give no more trouble, and those whose strength is gone have their rest.

18 The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

There prisoners take it easy—they don't hear the commands of their oppressors.

19 The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

Both small and great are there, and slaves are freed from their masters.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,

Why does God give life to those who are suffering, living bitterly miserable lives,

21 Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

those who are waiting for death that does not come and who are looking for death more desperately than hunting for treasure?

22 Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? —

They're so incredibly happy when the reach the grave!

23 To the man whose way is hidden, and whom God hath hedged in?

Why is light given to someone who doesn't know where they're going, someone God has fenced in?

24 For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

My groans are the bread I eat; my raging tears are the water I drink.

25 For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.

For all that I feared has happened to me; everything that I dreaded has come upon me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

I have no peace, no quiet, no rest. All that comes is rage.”