Job 3:3-26

3“1May the day on which I was to be born perish, As well as the night which said, ‘A 2boy is conceived.’4May that day be darkness; May God above not care for it, Nor light shine on it.5May 3darkness 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 4prepared to 5disturb Leviathan.9May the stars of its twilight be darkened; May it wait for light but have none, And may it not see the 6breaking dawn;10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11“7Why did I not die 8at 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 9would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,14With 10kings and 11counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt 12ruins for themselves;15Or with 13rulers 14who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.16Or like a miscarriage which is 15hidden, I would not exist, As infants that never saw light.17There the wicked cease from raging, And there the 16weary are at 17rest.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 18light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,21Who 1920long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for 21hidden treasures;22Who are filled with jubilation, And rejoice when they find the grave?23Why is light given to a man 22whose way is hidden, And whom 23God has shut off?24For 24my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And 25my cries pour out like water.25For 2627what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread 28encounters me.26I 29am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”