Job 3 / 42
- 1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
- 2He said:
- 3"May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'
- 4That day-may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it.
- 5May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light.
- 6That night-may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.
- 7May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.
- 8May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
- 9May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,
- 10for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.
- 11"Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
- 12Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?
- 13For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
- 14with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
- 15with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
- 16Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
- 17There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
- 18Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.
- 19The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
- 20"Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
- 21to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
- 22who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?
- 23Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
- 24For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
- 25What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
- 26I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."