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After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day (birthday).

And Job said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which announced, There is a man-child conceived.

Let that day be darkness! May not God above regard it, nor light shine upon it.

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).

As for that night, let thick darkness seize it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

Yes, let that night be solitary and barren; let no joyful voice come into it.

Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.

Let the stars of the early dawn of that day be dark; let [the morning] look in vain for the light, nor let it behold the day’s dawning,

10 Because it shut not the doors of my mother’s womb nor hid sorrow and trouble from my eyes.

11 Why was I not stillborn? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bore me?

12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

13 For then would I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then would I have been at rest [in death]

14 With kings and counselors of the earth, who built up [now] desolate ruins for themselves,

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

16 Or [why] was I not a miscarriage, hidden and put away, as infants who never saw light?

17 There [in death] the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

18 There the [captive] prisoners rest together; they hear not the taskmaster’s voice.

19 The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.(A)

20 Why is light [of life] given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

21 Who long and wait for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22 Who rejoice exceedingly and are elated when they find the grave?

23 [Why is the light of day given] to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

24 For my sighing comes before my food, and my groanings are poured out like water.

25 For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.

26 I was not or am not at ease, nor had I or have I rest, nor was I or am I quiet, yet trouble came and still comes [upon me].

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