約伯咒詛自己

後來,約伯開口咒詛自己的生日, 說:

「願我出生的那日和懷我的那夜滅沒。
願那日一片黑暗,
被天上的上帝遺忘,
沒有陽光照耀。
願那日被黑暗和陰影籠罩,
被密雲覆蓋,
被陰暗淹沒。
願那夜被幽暗吞噬,
不列在年日中,
不算在歲月裡。
願那夜無人生育,
毫無快樂之聲。
願那些咒詛白日、
能惹動海怪的人,
咒詛那夜。
願那夜的晨星昏暗,
等不到晨光的出現,
看不見黎明的眼簾。
10 因為那夜沒有關閉我母胎的門,
以致讓我看見患難。

11 「為何我不出生時就夭折,
出母胎時就斷氣?
12 為何要把我抱在膝上,
用乳汁哺育我?
13 不然我早已安然躺臥、長眠安息,
14 與世上的君王和謀臣作伴——他們建造的宮殿已荒廢,
15 與房屋堆滿金銀的王侯同眠。
16 為何我沒有像未見天日就流產的嬰兒一樣消逝?
17 那裡,惡人不再攪擾,
疲憊者得到安息,
18 被囚者得到安寧,
聽不見監工的斥責。
19 尊貴與卑賤的人都在那裡,
奴僕不再受主人的轄制。

20 「為何賜光給受苦的人,
賜生命給心靈痛苦的人?
21 他們等候死亡卻等不到,
他們求死勝於求寶藏。
22 他們歸入墳墓時非常快樂,
欣喜若狂。
23 為何賜生命給前路渺茫、
被上帝圍困的人?
24 我以歎息為食,
呻吟如水湧流。
25 我害怕的事發生了,
我恐懼的事來臨了。
26 我不得安寧,
不得平靜,
不得安息,
只有苦難。」

Job Laments the Day He was Born

After this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing[a] the day he was born.[b] This is what Job said:

“Let the day when I was born be annihilated,
    along with the night when it was announced,
        ‘It’s a boy!’[c]
Let that day be dark;
    let God above not care about it;
        let no light shine over it.
Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it;
    let clouds settle down on it;
        let blackness in mid-day terrify it.
Let darkness carry that night away;
    let it not take its place joyfully among the days of the year;
        let it not be entered into the calendar.[d]

“Yes, let that night be barren;
    let it not appear with its joyful shout.
Let whoever curses days curse it—
    those who are ready to awaken monsters.[e]
Let the stars of its evening twilight be dark;
    let it hope for light but let there be none;
        let it not see the breaking rays[f] of the dawn.

10 “Because that night[g] refused to shut the doors of my mother’s[h] womb;
    it failed to keep me from seeing this trouble.
11 Why didn’t I die while I was still in the womb,
    or die while I was being born?
12 Why was there a lap[i] to hold me,
    and why were there breasts to nurse me?

13 “If I had died,[j] I would be lying down by now,
    undisturbed, asleep, and at rest,
14 along with kings and counselors of the earth,
    who used to build for themselves what are now only[k] ruins,
15 or princes who amassed[l] gold for themselves,
    and who kept filling their houses with silver.

16 “Or why was I not buried[m] like a stillborn child,[n]
    like babies[o] who never saw the light?
17 In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble,
    and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest.
18 In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together;
    they won’t hear the voice of oppressors.
19 The unimportant and the important are both there,
    and the servant is free from his master.

20 “Why does God[p] give light to the sufferer
    or life to the bitter person:
21 To those who are longing for death—
    even though it does not come?
To those who search for it
    more than for hidden treasure?
22 To those who are happy beyond measure[q]
    when they reach their graves?
23 To the formerly successful[r] man who lost his way in life,
    and God fenced him in?

24 “As far as I’m concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs,
    and my cries of anguish pour out like water.
25 For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me,
    what caused me to worry has engulfed[s] me.
26 I will not be at ease;
    I will not be quiet;
I will not rest;
    because trouble has arrived.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:1 Or Job opened his mouth and cursed
  2. Job 3:1 The Heb. lacks he was born
  3. Job 3:3 Lit. A man has been conceived
  4. Job 3:6 Lit. entered among the numbering of months
  5. Job 3:8 Lit. Leviathan; i.e. an ancient sea creature
  6. Job 3:9 Lit. the eyelashes
  7. Job 3:10 Lit. It
  8. Job 3:10 The Heb. lacks mother’s
  9. Job 3:12 Lit. Why were there knees
  10. Job 3:13 Lit. For
  11. Job 3:14 The Heb. lacks only
  12. Job 3:15 The Heb. lacks who amassed
  13. Job 3:16 Lit. hidden
  14. Job 3:16 Or miscarriage
  15. Job 3:16 Lit. children
  16. Job 3:20 Lit. he
  17. Job 3:22 Lit. happy with great rejoicing
  18. Job 3:23 Lit. the valiant
  19. Job 3:25 Lit. come

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

And Job spake, and said,

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

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.

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)

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:8 Or curse the sea