1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. |
2 And Job spoke, and said: |
3 "May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, 'A male child is conceived.' |
4 May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. |
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it. |
6 As 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. |
7 Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it! |
8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan. |
9 May the stars of its morning be dark; May it look for light, but have none, And not see the dawning of the day; |
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes. |
11 "Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? |
12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? |
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest |
14 With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built ruins for themselves, |
15 Or with princes who had gold, Who filled their houses with silver; |
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, Like infants who never saw light? |
17 There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest. |
18 There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor. |
19 The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master. |
20 "Why is light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul, |
21 Who long for death, but it does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures; |
22 Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad when they can find the grave? |
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in? |
24 For my sighing comes before I eat, And my groanings pour out like water. |
25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. |
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes." |