Job
Chapter 3
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
2 Job spoke and said,
3 Let the day I was born disappear, and the night that said, “A baby boy is conceived.”
4 Let that day be dark; may God not notice it from above, nor let light shine on it.
5 Let darkness and death’s shadow mark it; let a cloud cover it; let the day’s darkness scare it.
6 Let that night be dark; may it not be included among the days of the year or counted in the months.
7 Look, let that night be alone, let no happy voice be heard in it.
8 Let those who curse the day do so, those who are prepared to wake up their sadness.
9 Let the stars of its dusk become dark; let it hope for light, yet find none; and let it not witness the break of dawn.
10 Because it did not close the doors of my mother’s womb or keep sadness from my eyes.
11 Why didn’t I die at birth? Why didn’t I stop breathing when I was born?
12 Why did I have knees to sit on, or breasts to feed from?
13 By now, I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest.
14 With leaders and advisors of the earth, who build ruined places for themselves;
15 Or with leaders who had gold, who filled their homes with silver:
16 Or I would have been like a baby born too early that never lived, as babies who never saw light.
17 There the bad people stop causing trouble; and there the tired people rest.
18 There the prisoners find peace; they do not hear the voice of the one who keeps them down.
19 Both important and unimportant people are there; and the servant is no longer bound to their boss.
20 Why is light given to those in misery, and life to those with bitter hearts?
21 They want to die, but it doesn’t happen; they search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasures.
22 Who are very happy and glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a person whose path is hidden, and whom God has surrounded?
24 I sigh before I eat, and my loud cries flow like water.
25 What I feared most has happened to me, and what I was scared of has come true.
26 I was not safe, nor at rest, nor peaceful; still, trouble came.