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
1After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.
2And Job answereth and saith: —
3Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: ‘A man-child hath been conceived.’
4That day — let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.
5Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.
6That night — let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come.
7Lo! that night — let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it.
8Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.
9Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.
10Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.
11Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!
12Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck?
13For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept — then there is rest to me,
14With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.
15Or with princes — they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver.
16(Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants — they have not seen light.)
17There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.
18Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,
19Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord.
20Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?
21Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.
22Who are glad — unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.
23To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?
24For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings.
25For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.
26I was not safe — nor was I quiet — Nor was I at rest — and trouble cometh!
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