Job 3:11–26

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth,

come forth from the womb and expire?^*

¹²Why were there knees to receive me

or breasts for me to suck?^*

¹³Now I would be lying down and quiet;

I would be asleep; then I would be at rest

¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuild ruins for themselves,^*

¹⁵or with princes who have gold,

who fill their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,

like an infant that never sees the light?^*

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at rest.^*

¹⁸There the prisoners are at ease together;

they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹The small and the great are there,

and the slaves are free from their masters.

²⁰“Why is light given to one in misery

and life to the bitter in soul,^*

²¹who long for death, but it does not come,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;^*

²²who rejoice exceedingly

and are glad when they find the grave?

²³Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,

whom God has fenced in?^*

²⁴For my sighing comes like^u my bread,

and my groanings are poured out like water.^*

²⁵Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,

and what I dread befalls me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest, but trouble comes.”