Job 3

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

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

2 Job answered:

and this is what he said:

3 “Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’

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

4 Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.

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

5 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.

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

6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

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 Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.

May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.

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

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

9 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,

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 didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.

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

11 “Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

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

12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse?

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

13 For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have 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 built up waste places for themselves;

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

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

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

16 or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who 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 wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

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

18 There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.

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

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

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

20 “Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,

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

21 who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

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

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

and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,

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

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

24 For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.

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

25 For the thing which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid of comes to me.

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

26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes.”

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