约伯记 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
约伯咒诅自己
3 后来，约伯开口咒诅自己的生日， 2 说：
3 “愿我出生的那日和怀我的那夜灭没。
4 愿那日一片黑暗，
被天上的上帝遗忘，
没有阳光照耀。
5 愿那日被黑暗和阴影笼罩，
被密云覆盖，
被阴暗淹没。
6 愿那夜被幽暗吞噬，
不列在年日中，
不算在岁月里。
7 愿那夜无人生育，
毫无快乐之声。
8 愿那些咒诅白日、
能惹动海怪的人，
咒诅那夜。
9 愿那夜的晨星昏暗，
等不到晨光的出现，
看不见黎明的眼帘。
10 因为那夜没有关闭我母胎的门，
以致让我看见患难。
11 “为何我不出生时就夭折，
出母胎时就断气？
12 为何要把我抱在膝上，
用乳汁哺育我？
13 不然我早已安然躺卧、长眠安息，
14 与世上的君王和谋臣作伴——他们建造的宫殿已荒废，
15 与房屋堆满金银的王侯同眠。
16 为何我没有像未见天日就流产的婴儿一样消逝？
17 那里，恶人不再搅扰，
疲惫者得到安息，
18 被囚者得到安宁，
听不见监工的斥责。
19 尊贵与卑贱的人都在那里，
奴仆不再受主人的辖制。
20 “为何赐光给受苦的人，
赐生命给心灵痛苦的人？
21 他们等候死亡却等不到，
他们求死胜于求宝藏。
22 他们归入坟墓时非常快乐，
欣喜若狂。
23 为何赐生命给前路渺茫、
被上帝围困的人？
24 我以叹息为食，
呻吟如水涌流。
25 我害怕的事发生了，
我恐惧的事来临了。
26 我不得安宁，
不得平静，
不得安息，
只有苦难。”
Job 3
English Standard Version
Job Laments His Birth
3 After this Job (A)opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:
3 (B)“Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man is conceived.’
4 Let that day be darkness!
May God above not seek it,
nor light shine upon it.
5 Let gloom and (C)deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds dwell upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 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 Behold, let that night be barren;
let no joyful cry enter it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the day,
who are ready to rouse up (D)Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light, but have none,
nor see (E)the eyelids of the morning,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why (F)did I not die at birth,
come out from the womb and expire?
12 Why did (G)the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who (H)rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not as a hidden (I)stillborn child,
as infants who never see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at (J)rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
they hear not the voice of (K)the taskmaster.
19 The 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 (L)the bitter in soul,
21 who (M)long for death, but it comes not,
and dig for it more than for (N)hidden treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly
and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose (O)way is hidden,
whom God has (P)hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes (Q)instead of[a] my bread,
and my (R)groanings are poured out like water.
25 (S)For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:24 Or like; Hebrew before
Job 3
The Voice
3 1-2 After all of this, Job opened his mouth and broke the silence. He spoke a curse, not upon God but upon his day of birth.
3 Job: May the day die on which I was born,
along with the night that spoke the words, “a boy is conceived.”
4 May that day of birth become darkness, and when it has disappeared,
may God above neither seek it out nor light find a way to shine on it.
5 Rather, let darkness and the shadow of death claim the day and its life-giving light.
Let storm clouds roll over it and threatening blackness terrorize it.
6 As to that night of my conception—
may it be snatched by the thick darkness of death’s realm,
Never to be released again for any year or any month—
so my conception and life could never have happened.
7 May that night prove infertile,
and may no moan of pleasure be heard there.
8 Bring out the enchanters, the diviners who cast their spells on the day—
who can awaken that beast, Leviathan—
9 And may the early-morning stars be extinguished.
Let the day wait for a light that won’t ever come,
And may it never see the eyelids of dawn crack open.
10 Because it neither closed the door of my mother’s womb
nor covered my eyes to these sorrows.
Reflecting on his conception, Job wishes darkness and death could have prevailed over light and life on that day. The one place that represents such darkness and death is called sheol. Job and his contemporaries believe all people go to sheol when they die. The Bible describes it as the very opposite of the heavens, a land of no return that is dark, dusty, and silent. Certainly this is not the heaven or hell of the New Testament; it is neither a place of communion with God nor a place of torment. One’s comfort after death is not determined by where he goes, but by whom he is with. The people of the Old Testament hope to “leave this world to sleep with their ancestors.” Such a fate is the reward of following God’s path in life.
11 Job: Why did I not die at my birth,
simply pass from the womb into death?
12 Why did my mother’s lap welcome me,
and why did her breasts nourish me?
13 If I had died, then I would now be reposed in quiet;
I would be sleeping in peace,
14 Resting with kings and their earthly ministers
who rebuilt ruined cities to glorify themselves,
15 With princes who possessed gold,
whose houses swelled with silver.
16 Why was I not buried in secret as a baby born still,
as a newborn who never saw light?
17 In the sleep of death, the wicked can do no more damage;
the weary ones at last find rest.
18 In death the captives are freed, together at ease,
and the shouts of their oppressors die along with them.
19 In the grave, together are the small and great,
and slaves from masters are emancipated.
20 Why is light awarded to those distressed,
and life given to embittered souls
21 Who long for a death that can’t be found,
though they mine the earth to find it
More than hidden veins of riches—
22 Who would be overjoyed and glad
when they find the grave?
23 Why is light wasted on the earthbound,
who cannot find their way and whom God has surrounded?
24 For I groan before every meal;
my moaning flows like water.
25 What I feared most descends on me;
my nightmare—now reality.
26 I have no peace; I have no quiet;
my resting, gone, has turned to riot.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.