Job 3:1–26

¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ²And this is what he said:

³“May the day of my birth perish,

and the night it was said,

‘A boy is conceived.’

⁴If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above disregard it;

may no light shine upon it.

⁵May darkness and gloom reclaim it,

and a cloud settle over it;

may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

⁶If only darkness had taken that night away!

May it not appear among the days of the year;

may it never be entered in any of the months.

⁷Behold, may that night be barren;

may no joyful voice come into it.

⁸May it be cursed by those who curse the day^a —

those prepared to rouse Leviathan.

⁹May its morning stars grow dark;

may it wait in vain for daylight;

may it not see the breaking of dawn.

¹⁰For that night did not shut the doors of the womb

to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹Why did I not perish at birth;

why did I not die as I came from the womb?

¹²Why were there knees to receive me,

and breasts that I should be nursed?

¹³For now I would be lying down in peace;

I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth,

who built for themselves cities now in ruins,

¹⁵or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,

like an infant who never sees daylight?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from raging,

and there the weary find rest.

¹⁸The captives enjoy their ease;

they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹Both small and great are there,

and the slave is freed from his master.

²⁰Why is light given to the miserable,

and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹who long for death that does not come,

and search for it like hidden treasure,

²²who rejoice and greatly exult

when they reach the grave?

²³Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

²⁴I sigh when food is put before me,

and my groans pour out like water.

²⁵For the thing I feared has overtaken me,

and what I dreaded has befallen me.

²⁶I am not at ease or quiet;

I have no rest, for trouble has come.”