Job 3
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
2 Job replied:
3 “May the day I was born perish, and the night that said, ‘A man has been conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness; may God above take no notice of it, and may no light shine on it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; may a cloud settle over it; may the gloom of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it; may it not rejoice among the days of the year or be counted among the months.
7 May that night be barren, and may no joyful shout enter it.
8 May those who curse the day curse it, those ready to rouse Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its twilight grow dark; may it wait for light and find none, and may it never see the first gleam of dawn.
10 For it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die in the womb? Why did I not perish when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did knees receive me? Why were there breasts for me to nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down and quiet; I would have slept, and then I would be at rest.”
14 “I would be with the kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or I would not exist, like a hidden miscarriage, like children who never saw the light.
17 There the wicked cease their turmoil, and there the weary find rest.
18 Together, prisoners are at ease; they do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
19 Small and great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to the suffering, and life to those bitter in soul,
21 who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure,
22 who rejoice with great gladness and are happy when they find a tomb?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in on every side?
24 For my groaning comes before my food, and my roars pour out like water.
25 For what I feared has overtaken me; what I dreaded has come upon me.
26 I have no ease, no calm, no rest, and turmoil comes.”
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