Job 3
1 At length Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.
Finally, Job spoke, and he cursed the day that he was born.
2 And Job spake and said:
He said,
3 Perish the day in which I was born, and the night which said, “A man-child is conceived!”
“I wish that the day when I was born could be eradicated, and also the night when I was conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; Let not God seek it from above; Yea, let not the light shine upon it!
I wish that the day when I was born would have been covered in darkness. I wish that God who is in heaven [MTY] would have forgotten about that day, and that the sun would not have shone on it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death redeem it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let whatever darkeneth the day terrify it!
I wish that thick/intense darkness would have filled that day, and that a black cloud would have come over it and blotted out all light and caused people to be terrified.
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months!
I wish that the night when I was conceived would be erased from the calendar, with the result that it would never again appear as one night in any month, and that it would not be included in any calendar.
7 O let that night be unfruitful! Let there be in it no voice of joy;
I wish that no child would again be conceived on that night of the month [MET], and that no one would again be happy on that night.
8 Let them that curse the day curse it, Who are skilful to stir up the leviathan!
I want those people who (curse/put evil spells on) days—those who know how to arouse/awaken the great sea monster—to curse that day.
9 Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it long for light, and have none; Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning!
I wish that the stars that shone early in the morning on that day [after I was conceived] will not shine again. I want those stars to have wished in vain for light to shine; and that they would not have shone on that day.
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, And hid not trouble from mine eyes.
[That was an evil day] because my mother was able to conceive; instead, I was born, and I have now experienced all these terrible things.
11 Why died I not at my birth? Why did I not expire when I came forth from the womb?
“I wish that I had died [RHQ] when I was born— at the time I emerged from my mother’s womb.
12 Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I might suck?
I wish that my mother had not [RHQ] allowed me to live. I wish that she had not nursed me.
13 For now should I lie down and be quiet; I should sleep; then should I be at rest,
If I had died at the time when I was born, I would be asleep, resting peacefully [in the place where the dead people are].
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up for themselves—ruins!
I would be resting with kings whose [beautiful palaces] that they built are now in ruins (OR, who rebuilt [palaces] that had previously been destroyed), and I would be resting with their officials [who have also died].
15 Or with princes that had gold, And filled their houses with silver;
I would be resting with princes who were wealthy, whose palaces were filled with gold and silver.
16 Or, as a hidden untimely birth, I had perished; As infants which never saw the light.
I wish that I had been buried like a child who died in its mother’s womb and never lived to see the light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; There the weary are at rest.
After wicked people die, they do not cause any more troubles; those who are very tired now will rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together; They hear not the voice of the oppressor.
Those who were in prison rest peacefully [after they die]; they no longer have slave-drivers who curse them.
19 The small and the great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
Rich people and poor people are alike after they die, and those who were slaves are no longer controlled by their masters.
20 Why giveth He light to him that is in misery, And life to the bitter in soul,
(“Why does God allow those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive?/I do not understand why God allows those who are suffering greatly [like me] to continue to remain alive.) [RHQ] Why does he allow those who are very miserable/distressed to keep living [RHQ]?
21 Who long for death, and it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
They long/want to die, but they do not die. They desire to die more than people desire to find a hidden treasure.
22 Who rejoice exceedingly, Yea, exult, when they can find a grave?
When they finally die and are buried, they are very happy.
23 Why is light given to a man from whom the way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
Those who do not know where they are [eventually] going when they die [RHQ], people whom God has forced [MET] to continue to live in misery, (it is not right that they continue to live./why do they continue to live?) [RHQ]
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groans are poured out like water.
I continually cry very much; as a result, I cannot eat; and I can never stop groaning.
25 For that which I dread overtaketh me; That at which I shudder cometh upon me.
Things that I always worried might happen to me, have happened to me; things that I always dreaded have happened to me.
26 I have no peace, nor quiet, nor respite: Misery cometh upon me continually.
Now I have no peace [in my inner being], I have no peace; I cannot rest; instead, I have only troubles.”
