Job 3
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day (birthday).
2 And Job said,
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which announced, There is a man-child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness! May not God above regard it, nor light shine upon it.
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).
6 As for that 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.
7 Yes, let that night be solitary and barren; let no joyful voice come into it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of the early dawn of that day be dark; let [the morning] look in vain for the light, nor let it behold the day’s dawning,
10 Because it shut not the doors of my mother’s womb nor hid sorrow and trouble from my eyes.
11 Why was I not stillborn? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bore me?
12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck?
13 For then would I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then would I have been at rest [in death]
14 With kings and counselors of the earth, who built up [now] desolate ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or [why] was I not a miscarriage, hidden and put away, as infants who never saw light?
17 There [in death] the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the [captive] prisoners rest together; they hear not the taskmaster’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.(A)
20 Why is light [of life] given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
21 Who long and wait for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22 Who rejoice exceedingly and are elated when they find the grave?
23 [Why is the light of day given] to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before my food, and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.
26 I was not or am not at ease, nor had I or have I rest, nor was I or am I quiet, yet trouble came and still comes [upon me].
Job 3
Common English Bible
Job responds differently
3 Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born.
2 Job said:
3 Perish the day I was born,
the night someone said,
“A boy has been conceived.”
4 That day—let it be darkness;
may God above ignore it,
and light not shine on it.
5 May deepest darkness claim it
and a cloud linger over it;
may all that darkens the day terrify it.
6 May gloom seize that night;
may it not be counted in the days of a year;
may it not appear in the months.
7 May that night be childless;
may no happy singing come in it.
8 May those who curse the day curse it,
those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
9 May its evening stars stay dark;
may it wait in vain for light;
may it not see dawn’s gleam,
10 because it didn’t close the doors of my mother’s womb,[a]
didn’t hide trouble from my eyes.
Job laments his misfortune
11 Why didn’t I die at birth,
come forth from the womb and die?
12 Why did knees receive me
and breasts let me nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down quietly;
I’d sleep; rest would be mine
14 with kings and earth’s advisors,
who rebuild ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who have gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
16 Or why wasn’t I like a buried miscarried infant,
like babies who never see light?
17 There the wicked rage no more;
there the weak rest.
18 Prisoners are entirely at ease;
they don’t hear a boss’s voice.
19 Both small and great are there;
a servant is free from his masters.
20 Why is light given to the hard worker,
life to those bitter of soul,
21 those waiting in vain for death,
who search for it more than for treasure,
22 who rejoice excitedly,
who are thrilled when they find a grave?
23 Why is light given[b] to the person whose way is hidden,
whom God has fenced in?
24 My groans become my bread;
my roars pour out like water.
25 Because I was afraid of something awful,
and it arrived;
what I dreaded came to me.
26 I had no ease, quiet, or rest,
and trembling came.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible