³ “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’^(B)
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
⁵ May gloom and utter darkness^(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
⁶ That night—may thick darkness^(D) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
⁷ May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy^(E) be heard in it.
⁸ May those who curse days^[a] curse that day,^(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(G)
9 May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,^(H)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me^(J)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³ For now I would be lying down^(K) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,^(M)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(N)
15 with princes^(O) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(Q)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(S)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(T)
18 Captives^(U) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(V) shout.^(W)
19 The small and the great are there,^(X)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,^(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,^(Z)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,^(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?^(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,^(AC)
    whom God has hedged in?^(AD)
24 For sighing^(AE) has become my daily food;^(AF)
    my groans^(AG) pour out like water.^(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded^(AI) has happened to me.^(AJ)
26 I have no peace,^(AK) no quietness;
    I have no rest,^(AL) but only turmoil.”^(AM)

7 “Do not mortals have hard service^(A) on earth?^(B)
    Are not their days like those of hired laborers?^(C)
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,^(D)
    or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,^(E)
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
    and nights of misery have been assigned to me.^(F)

¹⁸ “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?^(A)
    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.^(B)
19 If only I had never come into being,
    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!^(C)
20 Are not my few days^(D) almost over?^(E)
    Turn away from me^(F) so I can have a moment’s joy^(G)