| 1 | After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. | |
| 2 | He said: | |
| 3 | "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!' | |
| 4 | That day--may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. | |
| 5 | May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light. | |
| 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. | |
| 7 | May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. | |
| 8 | May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. | |
| 9 | May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, | |
| 10 | for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. | |
| 11 | "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? | |
| 12 | Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? | |
| 13 | For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest | |
| 14 | with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, | |
| 15 | with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. | |
| 16 | Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? | |
| 17 | There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. | |
| 18 | Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout. | |
| 19 | The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. | |
| 20 | "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, | |
| 21 | to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, | |
| 22 | who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? | |
| 23 | Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? | |
| 24 | For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water. | |
| 25 | What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. | |
| 26 | I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." | |