Job 3

Job’s Lament

1Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed 1the day of his birth. 2And Job 2said,3“3Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A 4boy is conceived.’4May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it.5Let 5darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it.6As for that night, let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.7Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it.8Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are 6prepared to 7rouse Leviathan.9Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the 8breaking dawn;10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11“9Why did I not die 10at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?12Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?13For now I 11would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,14With 12kings and with 13counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt 14ruins for themselves;15Or with 15princes 16who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.16Or like a miscarriage which is 17discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light.17There the wicked cease from raging, And there the 18weary are at 19rest.18The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.19The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.

20“Why is 20light given to him who suffers, And life to the bitter of soul,21Who 2122long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for 23hidden treasures,22Who rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave?23Why is light given to a man 24whose way is hidden, And whom 25God has hedged in?24For 26my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And 27my cries pour out like water.25For 2829what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me.26I 30am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”