Job Speaks

3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.b 2 He said:

3 “May the day of my birth perish,

and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’c

4 That day—may it turn to darkness;

may God above not care about it;

may no light shine on it.

5 May gloom and utter darknessd claim it once more;

may a cloud settle over it;

may blackness overwhelm it.

6 That night—may thick darknesse seize it;

may it not be included among the days of the year

nor be entered in any of the months.

7 May that night be barren;

may no shout of joyf be heard in it.

8 May those who curse daysa curse that day,g

those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.h

9 May its morning stars become dark;

may it wait for daylight in vain

and not see the first rays of dawn,i

10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me

to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not perish at birth,

and die as I came from the womb?j

12 Why were there knees to receive mek

and breasts that I might be nursed?

13 For now I would be lying downl in peace;

I would be asleep and at restm

14 with kings and rulers of the earth,n

who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,o

15 with princesp who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.q

16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,r

like an infant who never saw the light of day?s

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,t

and there the weary are at rest.u

18 Captivesv also enjoy their ease;

they no longer hear the slave driver’sw shout.x

19 The small and the great are there,y

and the slaves are freed from their owners.