Job 3
3
Job Curses His Birth
1After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born, 2saying:
3“Let the day I was born be destroyed,
and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’
4Let that day turn to darkness.
Don’t let God care about it.
Don’t let light shine on it.
5Let darkness and gloom have that day.
Let a cloud hide it.
Let thick darkness cover its light.
6Let thick darkness capture that night.
Don’t count it among the days of the year
or put it in any of the months.
7Let that night be empty,
with no shout of joy to be heard.
8Let those who curse days curse that day.
Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan.
9Let that day’s morning stars never appear;
let it wait for daylight that never comes.
Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
10because it allowed me to be born
and did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11“Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born?
Why didn’t I die when I came out of the womb?
12Why did my mother’s knees receive me,
and my mother’s breasts feed me?
13If they had not been there,
I would be lying dead in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
14with kings and wise men of the earth
who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15I would be asleep with rulers
who filled their houses with gold and silver.
16Why was I not buried like a child born dead,
like a baby who never saw the light of day?
17In the grave the wicked stop making trouble,
and the weary workers are at rest.
18In the grave there is rest for the captives
who no longer hear the shout of the slave driver.
19People great and small are in the grave,
and the slave is freed from his master.
20“Why is light given to those in misery?
Why is life given to those who are so unhappy?
21They want to die, but death does not come.
They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22They are very happy
when they get to the grave.
23They cannot see where they are going.
God has hidden the road ahead.
24I make sad sounds as I eat;
my groans pour out like water.
25Everything I feared and dreaded
has happened to me.
26I have no peace or quietness.
I have no rest, only trouble.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Job 3
3
Job Laments His Birth
1After this Job #ch. 33:2; Ps. 78:2opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And Job said:
3 # [ch. 10:18, 19]; See Jer. 20:14-18 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man is conceived.’
4Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it,
nor light shine upon it.
5Let gloom and #ch. 10:21, 22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; 38:17; Ps. 23:4; Isa. 9:2; Matt. 4:16deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds dwell upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6That night—let thick darkness seize it!
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
7Behold, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry enter it.
8Let those curse it who curse the day,
who are ready to rouse up #ch. 41:1Leviathan.
9Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light, but have none,
nor see #ch. 41:18the eyelids of the morning,
10because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11“Why #ch. 10:18, 19did I not die at birth,
come out from the womb and expire?
12Why did #Gen. 30:3; 50:23; Isa. 66:12the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14with kings and counselors of the earth
who #[Isa. 58:12]rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
16Or why was I not as a hidden #Ps. 58:8; Eccles. 6:3; [1 Cor. 15:8]stillborn child,
as infants who never see the light?
17There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at #ch. 17:16rest.
18There the prisoners are at ease together;
they hear not the voice of #Ex. 3:7the taskmaster.
19The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his master.
20“Why is light given to him who is in misery,
and life to #Prov. 31:6the bitter in soul,
21who #Rev. 9:6 long for death, but it comes not,
and dig for it more than for #Prov. 2:4hidden treasures,
22who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
23Why is light given to a man whose #Isa. 40:27 way is hidden,
whom God has #[ch. 1:10]; See ch. 19:8hedged in?
24For my sighing comes #[Ps. 42:3; 80:5; 102:9] instead of#3:24 Or like; Hebrew before my bread,
and my #Ps. 22:1; 38:8groanings are poured out like water.
25 # [Prov. 10:24] For 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.”
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