Job 3
1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.2 And Job answered and said:
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon 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.
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.
7 Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse 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:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?
12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, 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,
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up waste places for themselves;
15 Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver:
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there: And the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;
21 Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.
26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh.
Job 3
II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends(3:1-27:33)
Job Regrets His Birth
1 After this Job opened his mouths and cursedt the day he was born.t
2 Job spoke upt and said:
3 “Let the day on whicht I was bornt perish,
and the night that said,t
‘A mant has been conceived!’s
4 That dayt – let it be darkness;s
let not God on high regardt it,
nor let light shinet on it!
5 Let darkness and the deepest
shadows claim it;t
let a cloud settle on it;
let whatever blackens the dayt terrify it!
6 That night – let darkness seizet it;
let it not be includedt among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months!s
7 Indeed,t let that night be barren;t
let no shout of joyt penetratet it!
8 Let those who curse the dayts curse itt –
those who are prepared to rouset Leviathan.s
9 Let its morning starst be darkened;
let it waitt for daylight but find none,t
nor let it see the first rayss of dawn,
10 because itt did not shut the doorss of my mother’s womb on me,t
nor did it hide troublet from my eyes!
Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth
11 “Why did I nott diet at birth,t
and why did I not expire
ast I came out of the womb?
12 Why did the knees welcome me,ts
and why were theret two breastss
that I might nurse at them?t
13 For nowt I would be lying down
andt would be quiet,t
I would be asleep and then at peacet
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate,t
15 or with princes who possessed gold,t
who filled their palacest with silver.
16 Or whyt wast I not buriedt
like a stillborn infant,t
like infantst who have never seen the light?t
17 Theres the wickeds ceaset from turmoil,t
and there the wearyt are at rest.
18 Theret the prisonerst relaxt together;s
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.t
19 Small and great aret there,
and the slave is freet from his master.t
Longing for Death
20 “Why does Godt givets light to one who is in misery,s
and life to thoset whose soul is bitter,
21 tot those who waitt for death thatt does not come,
and search for itts
more than for hidden treasures,
22 who rejoicet even to jubilation,t
and are exultantt whent they find the grave?s
23 Why is light givent to a mans
whose way is hidden,t
and whom God has hedged in?t
24 For my sighing comes in place oft my food,s
and my groaningst flow forth like water.t
25 For the very thing I dreadedt has happenedt to me,
and what I feared has come upon me.t
26 I have no ease,t I have no quietness;
I cannot rest;t turmoil has come upon me.”t