Job 3:11–26

¹¹“Why wasn’t I born dead?

Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

¹²Why was I laid on my mother’s lap?

Why did she nurse me at her breasts?

¹³Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace.

I would be asleep and at rest.

¹⁴I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers,

whose great buildings now lie in ruins.

¹⁵I would rest with princes, rich in gold,

whose palaces were filled with silver.

¹⁶Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child,

like a baby who never lives to see the light?

¹⁷For in death the wicked cause no trouble,

and the weary are at rest.

¹⁸Even captives are at ease in death,

with no guards to curse them.

¹⁹Rich and poor are both there,

and the slave is free from his master.

²⁰“Oh, why give light to those in misery,

and life to those who are bitter?

²¹They long for death, and it won’t come.

They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.

²²They’re filled with joy when they finally die,

and rejoice when they find the grave.

²³Why is life given to those with no future,

those God has surrounded with difficulties?

²⁴I cannot eat for sighing;

my groans pour out like water.

²⁵What I always feared has happened to me.

What I dreaded has come true.

²⁶I have no peace, no quietness.

I have no rest; only trouble comes.”