Job Speaks

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(A) He said:

“May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(B)
That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
May gloom and utter darkness(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
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.
May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy(E) be heard in it.
May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(G)
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.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea

Eliphaz

Then Eliphaz the Temanite(A) replied:

“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?(B)
Think how you have instructed many,(C)
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.(D)
Your words have supported those who stumbled;(E)
    you have strengthened faltering knees.(F)
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;(G)
    it strikes(H) you, and you are dismayed.(I)
Should not your piety be your confidence(J)
    and your blameless(K) ways your hope?

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?(L)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?(M)
As I have observed,(N) those who plow evil(O)
    and those who sow trouble reap it.(P)
At the breath of God(Q) they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more.(R)

Read full chapter

11 “Therefore I will not keep silent;(A)
    I will speak out in the anguish(B) of my spirit,
    I will complain(C) in the bitterness of my soul.(D)
12 Am I the sea,(E) or the monster of the deep,(F)
    that you put me under guard?(G)
13 When I think my bed will comfort me
    and my couch will ease my complaint,(H)
14 even then you frighten me with dreams
    and terrify(I) me with visions,(J)
15 so that I prefer strangling and death,(K)
    rather than this body of mine.(L)
16 I despise my life;(M) I would not live forever.(N)
    Let me alone;(O) my days have no meaning.(P)

17 “What is mankind that you make so much of them,
    that you give them so much attention,(Q)
18 that you examine them every morning(R)
    and test them(S) every moment?(T)
19 Will you never look away from me,(U)
    or let me alone even for an instant?(V)
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you,(W)
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?(X)
    Have I become a burden to you?[a](Y)
21 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?(Z)
For I will soon lie down in the dust;(AA)
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.”(AB)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Job 7:20 A few manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition and Septuagint; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text I have become a burden to myself.

Bible Gateway Recommends