Job 3

Job curses the day he was born

¹After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.

²And Job spoke up and said: ³Let the day I was born perish, \q and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’ ⁴That day, let it be darkness! \q May God above not look for it, \q and may no daylight shine on it. ⁵May darkness and deep gloom claim it as their own; \q may a cloud settle over it; \q may all that blackens the day terrify it.^{ab 6}That night, let thick darkness carry it off; \q let it not rejoice among the days of the year \q or come into the count of the months.^{c 7}Yes, let that night be barren; \q let no cry of joy be heard in it. ⁸Let those who lay curses on days curse it, \q those who are skilled to rouse Leviathan.^{de 9}Let the stars of its early dawn be dark; \q let it wait for light that never comes \q and never see the dawn open its eyes. ¹⁰For it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb \q or hide trouble from my eyes. ¹¹Why did I not die at birth, \q come out of the womb and breathe my last? ¹²Why were there knees to receive me, \q and breasts for me to nurse at? ¹³For by now I would be lying at peace; \q I would be asleep and at rest, ¹⁴with the kings and counselors of the earth, \q who rebuilt ruined places for themselves,^{f 15}or with officials who had gold, \q who filled their houses with silver. ¹⁶Or why was I not like a stillborn child, hidden away, \q like infants who never see the light? ¹⁷There the wicked stop their raging, \q and there those whose strength is spent are at rest. ¹⁸Prisoners are at ease together; \q they no longer hear the shout of the slave driver. ¹⁹Small and great are there alike, \q and slaves are free from their masters. ²⁰Why is light given to those in misery, \q and life to the bitter in soul, ²¹who long for death, but it does not come, \q and search for it more than for hidden treasure, ²²who are filled with joy \q and glad when they find the grave, ²³to a man whose way is hidden from him, \q whom God has fenced in? ²⁴For sighing comes to me in place of food, \q and my groans pour out like water.^{g 25}For the thing I feared has come upon me, \q and what I dreaded has happened to me. ²⁶I have no ease, no quiet, no rest; \q only turmoil comes.