Job 3:1–26

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² And this is what he said: ³ “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ ⁴ If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it. ⁵ May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it. ⁶ If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year; may it never be entered in any of the months. ⁷ Behold, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it. ⁸ May it be cursed by those who curse the day — those prepared to rouse Leviathan. ⁹ May its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn. ¹⁰ For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes. ¹¹ Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? ¹² Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed? ¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest ¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins, ¹⁵ or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. ¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight? ¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest. ¹⁸ The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ¹⁹ Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. ²⁰ Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul, ²¹ who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure, ²² who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave? ²³ Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? ²⁴ I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water. ²⁵ For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me. ²⁶ I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”