Job 3:1-19

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.