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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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Job 3
3
Job's First Speech
Blot Out the Day of My Birth
1 #
Jr 20.14-18; Si 23.14. Finally, Job cursed the day
of his birth
2by saying to God:
3Blot out the day of my birth
and the night when my parents
created a son.
4Forget about that day,
cover it with darkness,
5and send thick, gloomy shadows
to fill it with dread.
6Erase that night from the calendar
and conceal it with darkness.
7Don't let children be created
or joyful shouts be heard
ever again in that night.
8Let those with magic powers#3.8 those with magic powers: The Hebrew text has “those who can place a curse on the day and rouse up Leviathan,” which was some kind of sea monster. God's victory over this monster sometimes stood for God's power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of his enemies (see Isaiah 27.1). In Job 41.1, Leviathan is either a sea monster or a crocodile with almost supernatural powers.
place a curse on that day.
9Darken its morning stars
and remove all hope of light,
10because it let me be born
into a world of trouble.
Why Didn't I Die at Birth?
11Why didn't I die at birth?
12Why was I accepted#3.12 Why was I accepted: The Hebrew text has “Why were there knees to receive me,” which may refer either to Job's mother or to his father, who would have placed Job on his knees to show that he had accepted him as his child.
and allowed to nurse
at my mother's breast?
13Now I would be at peace
in the silent world below
14with kings and their advisors
whose palaces lie in ruins,
15and with rulers once rich
with silver and gold.
16I wish I had been born dead
and then buried, never to see
the light of day.
17In the world of the dead,
the wicked and the weary rest
without a worry.
* 18Everyone is there—
19where captives and slaves
are free at last.
Why Does God Let Me Live?
20Why does God let me live
when life is miserable
and so bitter?
21 #
Rev 9.6. I keep longing for death
more than I would seek
a valuable treasure.
22Nothing could make me happier
than to be in the grave.
23Why do I go on living
when God has me surrounded,
and I can't see the road?
24Moaning and groaning
are my food and drink,
25and my worst fears
have all come true.
26I have no peace or rest—
only troubles and worries.
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© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.