Job 3

1After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

1Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,

2And he said:

2Job made answer and said,

3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

3Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

4Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.

4That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

5Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.

5Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

6Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

6That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

7Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.

7As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

8Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:

8Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

9Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:

9Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

10Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.

10Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

11Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

11Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

12Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?

12Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

13For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep:

13For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

14With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:

14With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

15Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:

15Or with rulers who had gold, and whose houses were full of silver;

16Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light.

16Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

17There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.

17There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

18And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.

18There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

19The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

19The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

20Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?

20Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

21That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:

21To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

22And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?

22Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

23To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?

23To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

24Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:

24In place of my food I have grief, and cries of sorrow come from me like water.

25For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.

25For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

26Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.

26I have no peace, no quiet, and no rest; nothing but pain comes on me.