Job 3

Job’s Lament

1Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed 1the day of his birth. 2And Job 2said,3“3May the day on which I was to be born perish, As well as the night which said, ‘A 4boy is conceived.’4May that day be darkness; May God above not care for it, Nor light shine on it.5May 5darkness and black gloom claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it.6As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year; May it not come into the number of the months.7Behold, may that night be barren; May no joyful shout enter it.8May those curse it who curse the day, Who are 6prepared to 7disturb Leviathan.9May the stars of its twilight be darkened; May it wait for light but have none, And may 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 out of the womb and pass away?12Why were the knees there in front of me, And why the breasts, that I would nurse?13For now I 11would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,14With 12kings and 13counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt 14ruins for themselves;15Or with 15rulers 16who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.16Or like a miscarriage which is 17hidden, I would not exist, 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 one burdened with grief, 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 are filled with jubilation, And rejoice when they find the grave?23Why is light given to a man 24whose way is hidden, And whom 25God has shut off?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 30encounters me.26I 31am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”