Job 3

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

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

2 So then Job began, and said:

and this is what he said:

3 Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!

May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”

4 That day, be it darkness, —Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:

May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it.

5 Let darkness and death-shade buy it back, May there settle down upon it a cloud, Let a day’s dark eclipse cause it terror:

Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness.

6 That night, darkness take it, —May it not rejoice among the days of the year, Into the number of months, let it not enter.

Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

7 Lo! that night, be it barren, Let no joyous shouting enter therein:

May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.

8 Let day-cursers denounce it, Those skilled in rousing the dragon of the sky:

May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan.

9 Darkened be the stars of its twilight, —Let it wait for light, and there be none, neither let it see the eyelashes of the dawn:

Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East.

10 Because it closed not the doors of the womb wherein I was, and so hid trouble from mine eyes.

For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes.

11 Wherefore, in the womb, did I not die? From the womb, come forth and cease to breathe?

Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish?

12 For what reason, were there prepared for me—knees? and why—breasts, that I might suck?

Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?

13 Surely, at once, had I lain down, and been quiet, I had fallen asleep, then, had I been at rest:

For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep

14 With kings, and counselors of the earth, who had built them pyramids:

with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes,

15 Or with rulers possessing, gold, —Who had filled their houses with silver:

either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver,

16 Or that, like an untimely birth hidden away, I had not come into being, like infants that never saw light:

or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.

17 There, the lawless, cease from raging, and there the toil-worn are at rest:

There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest.

18 At once are prisoners at peace, they hear not the voice of a driver:

And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff.

19 Small and great, there, they are, and, the slave, is free from his master.

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

20 Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul?—

Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,

21 Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:

who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure

22 Who rejoice unto exultation, Are glad, when they can find the grave:

and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,

23 To a man, whose way is concealed, And GOD hath straitly enclosed him?

to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?

24 For, in the face of my food, my sighing, cometh in, and, poured out like the water, are my groans:

Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl,

25 For, a dread, I dreaded, and it hath come upon me, and, that from which I shrank, hath overtaken me.

for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me.

26 I was not careless, nor was I secure, nor had I settled down, —when there came—consternation!

Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.