Loading…

Job 2:11–3:4

Job’s Three Friends

11 Now when Job’s three afriends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz bthe Temanite, Bildad cthe Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to dshow him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they etore their robes and sprinkled fdust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground gseven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job Laments His Birth

After this Job hopened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:

i“Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man is conceived.’

Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

nor light shine upon it.

Read more Explain verse



Job 2:11–3:4 — The New International Version (NIV)

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

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

“May the day of my birth perish,

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

That day—may it turn to darkness;

may God above not care about it;

may no light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born,

And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness;

Let not God regard it from above,

Neither let the light shine upon it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — New Living Translation (NLT)

11 When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. 12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. He said:

“Let the day of my birth be erased,

and the night I was conceived.

Let that day be turned to darkness.

Let it be lost even to God on high,

and let no light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said:

“May the day perish on which I was born,

And the night in which it was said,

‘A male child is conceived.’

May that day be darkness;

May God above not seek it,

Nor the light shine upon it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — New Century Version (NCV)

11 Now Job had three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When these friends heard about Job’s troubles, they agreed to meet and visit him. They wanted to show their concern and to comfort him. 12 They saw Job from far away, but he looked so different they almost didn’t recognize him. They began to cry loudly and tore their robes and put dirt on their heads to show how sad they were. 13 Then they sat on the ground with Job seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw how much he was suffering.

After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born, saying:

“Let the day I was born be destroyed,

and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’

Let that day turn to darkness.

Don’t let God care about it.

Don’t let light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — American Standard Version (ASV)

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job answered and said:

Let the day perish wherein I was born,

And the night which said,

There is a man-child conceived.

Let that day be darkness;

Let not God from above seek for it,

Neither let the light shine upon it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

11 And three friends of Job heard of all this evil that was come upon him. And they came each one from his place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to condole with him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward the heavens. 13 And they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that his anguish was very great.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. And Job answered and said, Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived. That day—let it be darkness, let not †God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

Job 2:11–3:4 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

11 When Job’s three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home—Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah, Zophar of Naama. They had agreed they would go together to sympathize with Job and comfort him. 

12 When they saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw that he was in such great pain. 

After all this, Job ⸤finally⸥ opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. Job said, 

“Scratch out the day I was born 

and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’ 

“That day— 

let it be pitch-black. 

Let God above not ⸤even⸥ care about it. 

Let no light shine on it. 

Job 2:11–3:4 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

11 Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.

After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. He said:

May the day I was born perish,

and the night when they said,

“A boy is conceived.”

If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above not care about it,

or light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Job said:

“Let the day perish in which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man-child is conceived.’

Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

or light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

11 Thus Job’s three friends heard of this calamity that had come upon him. So each set out from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. And they met together to come to console him and to comfort him.

12 Thus they lifted up their eyes from afar, but they did not recognize him, so they raised their voice, and they wept, and each man tore his outer garment and threw dust on their heads toward the sky. 13 Then they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very great.

Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Thus Job spoke up and said,

“Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’

Let that day become darkness;

may God not seek it from above,

nor may daylight shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

11 Job had three friends named Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They heard about all of the troubles that had come to Job. So they started out from their homes. They had agreed to meet together. They wanted to go and show their concern for Job. They wanted to comfort him.

12 When they got closer to where he lived, they could see him. But they could hardly recognize him. They began to sob out loud. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.

13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him. That’s because they saw how much he was suffering.

After a while, Job opened his mouth to speak. He called down a curse on the day he had been born. He said,

“May the day I was born be wiped out.

May the night be wiped away when people said, ‘A boy is born!’

May that day turn into darkness.

May God in heaven not care about it.

May no light shine on it.

Job 2:11–3:4 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.

13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

And Job said,

“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,

And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

“May that day be darkness;

Let not God above care for it,

Nor light shine on it.


A service of Logos Bible Software