Job 3
1 Post haec aperuit Iob os suum, et maledixit diei suo,
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
2 et locutus est.
He said,
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum, et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
“May the day on which I was born perish, the night that said, 'A boy has been conceived.'
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras, non requirat eum Deus desuper, et non illustretur lumine.
May that day be dark; may not God from above call it to mind, neither may the sun shine on it.
5 Obscurent eum tenebrae et umbra mortis, occupet eum caligo, et involvatur amaritudine.
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 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat, non computetur in diebus anni, nec numeretur in mensibus:
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 Sit nox illa solitaria, nec laude digna:
See, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei, qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan:
May they curse that day, those who know how to wake up Leviathan.
9 Obtenebrentur stellae caligine eius: expectet lucem et non videat, nec ortum surgentis aurorae:
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 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris, qui portavit me, nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, and because it did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum, egressus ex utero non statim perii?
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 Quare exceptus genibus? cur lactatus uberibus?
Why did her knees welcome me? Why did her breasts receive me so that I should suck?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem, et somno meo requiescerem:
For now I would have been lying down quietly. I would have slept and been at rest
14 Cum regibus et consulibus terrae, qui aedificant sibi solitudines:
with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins.
15 Aut cum principibus, qui possident aurum, et replent domos suas argento:
Or I would have been lying with princes who once had gold, who had filled their houses with silver.
16 Aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem, vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
Or perhaps I would have been stillborn, like infants that never see the light.
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu, et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
There the wicked cease from trouble; there the weary are at rest.
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia, non audierunt vocem exactoris.
There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the slave driver.
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, et servus liber a domino suo.
Both small and great people are there; the servant is free from his master there.
20 Quare misero data est lux, et vita his, qui in amaritudine animae sunt?
Why is light given to him who is in misery? Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul,
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit, quasi effodientes thesaurum:
to one who longs for death without it coming; to one who digs for death more than for hidden treasure?
22 Gaudentque vehementer cum invenerint sepulchrum.
Why is light given to one who rejoices very much and is glad when he finds the grave?
23 Viro cuius abscondita est via, et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, a man whom God has hedged in?
24 Antequam comedam suspiro: et tamquam inundantes aquae, sic rugitus meus:
For my sighing happens instead of eating; my groaning is poured out like water.
25 Quia timor, quem timebam, evenit mihi: et quod verebar accidit.
For the thing that I feared has come on me; what I was afraid of has come to me.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi? et venit super me indignatio.
I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest; trouble comes instead.”
