-
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 3:2 Job said: 3:3 "Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man-child is conceived.' 3:4 Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it. 3:5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 3:6 That night-- let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. 3:7 Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. 3:8 Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. 3:9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning-- 3:10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hide trouble from my eyes. 3:11 "Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? 3:12 Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck? 3:13 Now I would be lying down and quiet; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest 3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves, 3:15 or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver. 3:16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light? 3:17 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. 3:18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. 3:19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters. 3:20 "Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, 3:21 who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; 3:22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave? 3:23 Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in? 3:24 For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. 3:25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. 3:26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes."