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 Complaint. 1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.#His day: that is, the day of his birth. 2Job spoke out and said:
3Perish the day on which I was born,#Jer 20:14.
the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”
4May that day be darkness:
may God#God: in Heb. ’Eloah, another name for the divinity, used frequently in Job. above not care for it,
may light not shine upon it!
5May darkness and gloom claim it,
clouds settle upon it,
blackness of day#Blackness of day: that is, an eclipse. affright it!
6May obscurity seize that night;
may it not be counted among the days of the year,
nor enter into the number of the months!
7May that night be barren;
let no joyful outcry greet it!
8Let them curse it who curse the Sea,
those skilled at disturbing Leviathan!#Leviathan: a mythological sea monster symbolizing primeval chaos. It is parallel to Sea, which was the opponent of Baal in the Ugaritic legends. Cf. 9:13; 26:13; 40:25–41:26; Ps 74:13–14; 104:26; Is 27:1.
9May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
may it look for daylight, but have none,
nor gaze on the eyes of the dawn,
10Because it did not keep shut the doors of the womb
to shield my eyes from trouble!
11Why did I not die at birth,#Jb 10:18–19.
come forth from the womb and expire?
12Why did knees receive me,
or breasts nurse me?
13For then I should have lain down and been tranquil;
had I slept, I should then have been at rest
14With kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuilt what were ruins
15Or with princes who had gold
and filled their houses with silver.
16Or why was I not buried away like a stillborn child,
like babies that have never seen the light?
17There#There: in death. the wicked cease from troubling,
there the weary are at rest.
18The captives are at ease together,
and hear no overseer’s voice.
19Small and great are there;
the servant is free from the master.
20Why is light given to the toilers,
life to the bitter in spirit?
21They wait for death and it does not come;
they search for it more than for hidden treasures.
22They rejoice in it exultingly,
and are glad when they find the grave:
23A man whose path is hidden from him,
one whom God has hemmed in!#Hemmed in: contrast the same verb as used in 1:10.
24For to me sighing comes more readily than food;
my groans well forth like water.
25For what I feared overtakes me;
what I dreaded comes upon me.
26I have no peace nor ease;
I have no rest, for trouble has come!
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