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Job Curses His Birth

·After seven days [L Afterward] Job ·cried out [L opened his mouth] and cursed ·the day he had been born [L his day; Jer. 20:14–18], saying:

“Let the day I was born be destroyed,
    and the night it was said, ‘A boy is ·born [L conceived]!’
Let that day turn to darkness [C contrast Gen. 1:3].
    Don’t let God ·care about [L seek] it.
    Don’t let light shine on it.
Let darkness and gloom ·have that day [L redeem it].
    Let a cloud ·hide [L settle over] it.
    Let thick darkness ·cover its light [overwhelm the day].
Let thick darkness capture that night.
    Don’t count it among the days of the year
    or put it in any of the months.
Let that night be ·empty [barren],
    with no shout of joy ·to be heard [L entering it].
Let those who curse ·days [or the Sea; C a symbol of chaos] curse that day [C Balaam (Num. 22–24) is an example of a professional curser].
    Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan [C a creature in ancient Near Eastern texts that represents chaos; 41:1, 12; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Is. 27:1].
Let that day’s morning stars ·never appear [L become dark];
    let it ·wait [hope] for daylight that never comes.
    Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
10 because it ·allowed me to be born [L did not shut the doors of my (mother’s) womb]
    and did not hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I ·was born [L came out of the womb]?
    Why didn’t I die when I came out of the ·womb [L belly; Eccl. 6:3–5]?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me,
    and ·my mother’s breasts feed me [L why were there breasts that I could suck]?
13 If they had not been there,
    I would be lying dead in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and wise men of the earth
    who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15 I would be asleep with rulers
    who filled their houses with gold and silver.
16 Why was I not ·buried [L hidden] like a ·child born dead [stillborn],
    like a baby who never saw the light of day?
17 In the grave the wicked ·stop making trouble [or cease their agitation],
    and the weary workers are at rest.
18 In the grave there is rest for the ·captives [prisoners]
    who no longer hear the ·shout [L voice] of the ·slave driver [taskmaster].
19 People great and small are ·in the grave [L there],
    and the ·slave [servant] is freed from his master.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery?
    Why is life given to those who are ·so unhappy [depressed]?
21 They want to die, but death does not come.
    They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22 They are very happy
    [L they celebrate] when they get to the grave.
23 They cannot see where they are going.
    God has ·hidden the road ahead [L placed a hedge around him].
24 I ·make sad sounds [sigh] as I eat;
    my groans pour out like water.
25 ·Everything I feared and dreaded
    has happened to me.
[or For the dread I dreaded has come to me,
    and what I feared has come to me.]
26 I have no peace or quietness.
    I have no rest, only ·trouble [agitation].”

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