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Job responds differently

Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born.

Job said:
Perish the day I was born,
    the night someone said,
    “A boy has been conceived.”
That day—let it be darkness;
    may God above ignore it,
    and light not shine on it.
May deepest darkness claim it
    and a cloud linger over it;
    may all that darkens the day terrify it.
May gloom seize that night;
    may it not be counted in the days of a year;
    may it not appear in the months.
May that night be childless;
    may no happy singing come in it.
May those who curse the day curse it,
    those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
May its evening stars stay dark;
    may it wait in vain for light;
    may it not see dawn’s gleam,
10     because it didn’t close the doors of my mother’s womb,[a]
    didn’t hide trouble from my eyes.

Job laments his misfortune

11 Why didn’t I die at birth,
    come forth from the womb and die?
12 Why did knees receive me
    and breasts let me nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down quietly;
    I’d sleep; rest would be mine
14         with kings and earth’s advisors,
        who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15         or with princes who have gold,
        who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why wasn’t I like a buried miscarried infant,
    like babies who never see light?
17 There the wicked rage no more;
    there the weak rest.
18 Prisoners are entirely at ease;
    they don’t hear a boss’s voice.
19 Both small and great are there;
    a servant is free from his masters.
20 Why is light given to the hard worker,
    life to those bitter of soul,
21     those waiting in vain for death,
        who search for it more than for treasure,
22     who rejoice excitedly,
        who are thrilled when they find a grave?
23 Why is light given[b] to the person whose way is hidden,
    whom God has fenced in?
24 My groans become my bread;
    my roars pour out like water.
25 Because I was afraid of something awful,
    and it arrived;
    what I dreaded came to me.
26 I had no ease, quiet, or rest,
    and trembling came.

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:10 Heb lacks mother’s.
  2. Job 3:23 Heb lacks is light given.

Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(A) He said:

“May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(B)
That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
May gloom and utter darkness(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
That night—may thick darkness(D) 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(E) be heard in it.
May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(G)
May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,(H)
10 for 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?(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(J)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(K) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(M)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(N)
15 with princes(O) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(Q)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(S)
    and there the weary are at rest.(T)
18 Captives(U) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s(V) shout.(W)
19 The small and the great are there,(X)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,(Z)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,(AC)
    whom God has hedged in?(AD)
24 For sighing(AE) has become my daily food;(AF)
    my groans(AG) pour out like water.(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded(AI) has happened to me.(AJ)
26 I have no peace,(AK) no quietness;
    I have no rest,(AL) but only turmoil.”(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

And Job spake, and said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and 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 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which 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 roarings are poured out like the waters.

25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.