Job 3

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

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.

2 And Job answered and said:

He said,

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

“May the day on which I was born perish, the night that said, 'A boy has been conceived.'

4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

May that day be dark; may not God from above call it to mind, neither may the sun shine on it.

5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that maketh black the day terrify it.

May darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. May a cloud live over it; may everything that makes the day black truly terrify it.

6 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.

As for that night, may thick darkness seize it. May it not rejoice among the days of the year; may it not come into the number of the months.

7 Lo, let that night be barren; let no joyful voice come therein.

See, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.

8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

May they curse that day, those who know how to wake up Leviathan.

9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: let it look for light, but have none; neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

May the stars of that day's dawn be dark. May that day look for light, but find none; neither may it see the eyelids of the dawn,

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother’s] womb, nor hid trouble from mine eyes.

because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, and because it did not hide trouble from my eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Why did I not die when I came out from the womb? Why did I not give up my spirit when my mother bore me?

12 Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts, that I should suck?

Why did her knees welcome me? Why did her breasts receive me so that I should 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 have been lying down quietly. I would have slept and been at rest

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built up waste places for themselves;

with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins.

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

Or I would have been lying with princes who once had gold, who had filled their houses with silver.

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

Or perhaps I would have been stillborn, like infants that never see the light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

There the wicked cease from trouble; there the weary are at rest.

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

There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the slave driver.

19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

Both small and great people are there; the servant is free from his master there.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

Why is light given to him who is in misery? Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul,

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

to one who longs for death without it coming; to one who digs for death more than for hidden treasure?

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

Why is light given to one who rejoices very much and is glad when he finds the grave?

23 [Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, a man whom God has hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like water.

For my sighing happens instead of eating; my groaning is poured out like water.

25 For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, and that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

For the thing that I feared has come on me; what I was afraid of has come to me.

26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble cometh.

I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest; trouble comes instead.”