Job 3

Job 3:1 After this, Job opened his mouth and declared the day he was born cursed.

Job 3:2 He spoke and said:

Job 3:3 May the day I was born be destroyed, and the night that said, “A healthy man[1] is conceived.”

Job 3:4 If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.

Job 3:5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May the darkens of day scare it away.

Job 3:6 If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar.

Job 3:7 Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it.

Job 3:8 Let those who curse days condemn it, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

Job 3:9 May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn.

Job 3:10 For that night did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb and hide sorrow from my eyes.

Job 3:11 Why was I not stillborn? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

Job 3:12 Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

Job 3:13 Now I would certainly be lying down in peace; I would be asleep. Then I would be at rest

Job 3:14 with the kings and counselors of the land, who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

Job 3:15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

Job 3:16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight?

Job 3:17 There the wicked cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest.

Job 3:18 The prisoners are completely at rest; they do not hear a taskmaster’s voice.

Job 3:19 Both small and significant are there, and the slave is set free from his master.

Job 3:20 Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to those whose throat is bitter,

Job 3:21 who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

Job 3:22 who are filled with much joy and are glad when they reach the grave?

Job 3:23 Why is life given to a healthy man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

Job 3:24 I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.

Job 3:25 Because the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.

Job 3:26 I cannot relax or be calm; I have no rest, because turmoil has come.

[1] גֶּבֶר = healthy man. Job 3:3, 23; 4:17; 10:5; 14:10, 14; 16:21; 22:2; 33:17, 29; 34:7, 9, 34; 38:3; 40:7.

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