3:1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
3:2 He said:
3:3 “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’
3:4 That day–may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it.
3:5 May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light.
3:6 That night–may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.
3:7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.
3:8 May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
3:9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,
3:10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.
3:11 “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
3:12 Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?
3:13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
3:15 with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
3:16 Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
3:17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
3:18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
3:19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
3:20 “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
3:21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
3:22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?
3:23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
3:24 For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
3:25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
3:26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
3:2 And Job responded and said,
3:3 Let the day on which I was born perish, / And the night which said, A man has been conceived.
3:4 Let that day be darkness; / Let God not seek it from above, / Nor let light shine upon it.
3:5 Let darkness and the shadow of death reclaim it; / Let a cloud dwell upon it; / Let the things that blacken the day terrify it.
3:6 As for that night, let deep darkness take hold of it; / Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; / Let it not come up in the number of the months.
3:7 Behold, let that night be barren; / Let no joyous shout come in it.
3:8 Let those curse it who curse the day, / Who are ready to rouse leviathan.
3:9 Let its predawn stars be dark; / Let it wait for light and there be none, / And do not let it see the eyelids of the dawn.
3:10 For it did not shut up the doors of the womb that bore me, / Nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
3:11 Why did I not die at birth, / Come forth from the womb and expire?
3:12 Why did the knees receive me? / And why the breasts, that I should suck?
3:13 For now I would have lain down and been undisturbed; / I would have slept; then I would have been at rest
3:14 With kings and counselors of the earth, / Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;
3:15 Or with princes who had gold, / Who filled their houses with silver.
3:16 Or like a miscarriage that has been concealed, I would not have been, / Like infants that do not see the light.
3:17 There the wicked cease from their troubling, / And there the weary rest.
3:18 Captives are altogether at ease; / They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
3:19 The small and the great are there, / And the servant is free from his master.
3:20 Why does He give light to him who suffers / And life to the bitter in soul,
3:21 Who wait for death, but it is not there; / And dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
3:22 Who rejoice to the point of exultation / And are glad when they have found the grave;
3:23 To the man whose way is hidden / And whom God has hedged in?
3:24 For my sighing comes as my food, / And my groaning pours out like water.
3:25 For I dread something, and it comes upon me; / And what I fear comes to me.
3:26 I have no ease and I have no quiet / And I have no rest, but trouble comes.