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May thick darkness overpower it;
    let it not be numbered among the days of the year
    or reckoned in the cycle of the months.
“May that night be barren;
    let no cry of joy be heard during it.
Let those curse it who curse the sea
    and are prepared to rouse Leviathan.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 This is an allusion to those sorcerers who claimed to be able to make days unlucky and to upset the order of the world. The sea: another possible translation is: “days.” Leviathan: here it symbolizes the dark forces in the primitive chaos that God conquered and relegated to the depths of the ocean (see Pss 74:14; 104:26; Isa 27:1; 51:9; Am 9:3). Other creatures have also been put forth for the Leviathan, e.g., a killer whale.

That night—may thick darkness(A) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy(B) be heard in it.
May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(C)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea