Job 3:11–26

¹¹“Why didn’t I die when I was born?

Why didn’t I die as I came out of my mother’s body?

¹²Why was I placed on her knees?

Why did her breasts give me milk?

¹³If all of that hadn’t happened,

I would be lying down in peace.

I’d be asleep and at rest in the grave.

¹⁴I’d be with the earth’s kings and advisers.

They had built for themselves places that are now destroyed.

¹⁵I’d be with rulers who used to have gold.

They had filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Why wasn’t I buried like a baby who was born dead?

Why wasn’t I buried like a child who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷In the grave, sinful people don’t cause trouble anymore.

And there those who are tired find rest.

¹⁸Prisoners also enjoy peace there.

They don’t hear a slave driver shouting at them anymore.

¹⁹The least important and most important people are there.

And there the slaves are set free from their owners.

²⁰“Why is the light that leads to life given to those who suffer?

Why is it given to those whose spirits are bitter?

²¹Why is life given to those who long for death that doesn’t come?

Why is it given to those who would rather search for death

than for hidden treasure?

²²Why is life given to those who are actually happy and glad

when they reach the grave?

²³Why is life given to a man like me?

God hasn’t told me what will happen to me.

He has surrounded me with nothing but trouble.

²⁴I sigh instead of eating food.

Groans pour out of me like water.

²⁵What I was afraid of has come on me.

What I worried about has happened to me.

²⁶I don’t have any peace and quiet.

I can’t find any rest. All I have is trouble.”