Job 3

1After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.

2And Job spoke up and said: 3Let the day I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’ 4That day, let it be darkness! May God above not look for it, and may no daylight shine on it. 5May darkness and deep gloom claim it as their own; may a cloud settle over it; may all that blackens the day terrify it. 6That night, let thick darkness carry it off; let it not rejoice among the days of the year or come into the count of the months. 7Yes, let that night be barren; let no cry of joy be heard in it. 8Let those who lay curses on days curse it, those who are skilled to rouse Leviathan. 9Let the stars of its early dawn be dark; let it wait for light that never comes and never see the dawn open its eyes. 10For it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb or hide trouble from my eyes. 11Why did I not die at birth, come out of the womb and breathe my last? 12Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts for me to nurse at? 13For by now I would be lying at peace; I would be asleep and at rest, 14with the kings and counselors of the earth, who rebuilt ruined places for themselves, 15or with officials who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 16Or why was I not like a stillborn child, hidden away, like infants who never see the light? 17There the wicked stop their raging, and there those whose strength is spent are at rest. 18Prisoners are at ease together; they no longer hear the shout of the slave driver. 19Small and great are there alike, and slaves are free from their masters. 20Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, 21who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure, 22who are filled with joy and glad when they find the grave, 23to a man whose way is hidden from him, whom God has fenced in? 24For sighing comes to me in place of food, and my groans pour out like water. 25For the thing I feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. 26I have no ease, no quiet, no rest; only turmoil comes.