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,
Job 3:3–14
Semantically similar passages
Jeremiah 20:13–15
13 Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers. 14 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. 15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,”…
Job 10:17–19
17 You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave. 18 Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! 19 If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the…
Sirach 28:20–22
20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its bands are bands of brass. (WEB) 21 Its death is an evil death, and Hades is better than it. (WEB) 22 It will not have rule over godly men. They will not be burned in its flame. (WEB)
Psalms 109:8–10
8 May his days be few; may another take his position. 9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. 10 May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Jeremiah 20:17–18
17 because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged. 18 Why did I come out of the womb to see only trouble and sorrow, and to end my days in shame?
Psalms 49:18–20
18 Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul— and men praise you when you prosper— 19 he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day. 20 A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Job 3:19–21
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,
Romans 11:9–11
9 And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them. 10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” 11 I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not!…
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