Job 3
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Arguments Between Job and His Friends
Round One: Job’s First Speech
3 Finally, Job opened his lips and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job spoke up and said:
3 May the day of my birth perish,
and the night when it was said, “A child has been conceived!”
4 As for that day, let it be darkness!
May God above have no concern for it.
May light not shine on it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death[a] reclaim it.
May a dark cloud settle over it.
May whatever blackens the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may deep darkness take it away!
May it not be included[b] among the days of the year
or show up in the list of months.
7 Oh let that night be barren!
May no joyful shout be heard in it.
8 May those who curse days cast a spell on it,
those who are able to awaken Leviathan.[c]
9 May its twilight stars be darkened.
May it wait hopefully for light but receive none.
May it never see the eyelids of dawn,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
and it did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die at birth
or pass away as I came from the womb?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me?
Why were her breasts there to nurse me?
13 For then I would be lying down peacefully.
I would be sleeping and resting quietly
14 with the kings and counselors of the earth,
with those who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,[d]
15 with high officials who accumulated gold,
with those who filled their houses with silver.
16 Why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
like the infants who never see the light of day?
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil.
There the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together.
They no longer hear the voice of the slave driver.
19 There the small and great are alike,
and the slave is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to those weighed down with grief?
Why is life given to those whose spirit is bitter,
21 to those who yearn for death but it does not come,
though they dig for it more than for buried treasure,
22 to those who will be thrilled with happiness,
those who will celebrate when they reach the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose path is hidden,
to one whom God has hedged in?
24 Now my sighing takes the place of my daily bread.
My groans gush forth like water,
25 because what I feared has overwhelmed me,
and that which I dreaded has come upon me.
26 I have no ease, no quiet, no rest.
Instead, turmoil has come.
Footnotes
- Job 3:5 The scribes of the Hebrew text consistently spell this word as a word that means the shadow of death. Many recent translations alter the spelling to a very similar word that means deep darkness. The EHV in many cases retains the traditional reading of the Hebrew scribes.
- Job 3:6 The translation follows the ancient versions. The Hebrew reads may it not rejoice.
- Job 3:8 Leviathan is a monster that represents chaos. See the note at 41:1 for more information.
- Job 3:14 Or those who built things now lying in ruins
Job 3
Lexham English Bible
Job Regrets His Birth
3 Afterward[a] Job opened his mouth and cursed[b] his day. 2 Thus[c] Job spoke up[d] and said,
3 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
4 Let that day become[e] darkness;
may God not seek it from above,
nor may daylight shine on it.
5 Let darkness and deep shadow claim it;
let clouds[f] settle on it;
let them[g] terrify it with the blackness[h] of day.
6 Let darkness seize that night;[i]
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months.
7 Look, let that night become[j] barren;
let a joyful song not enter it.
8 Let those who curse the day curse it,
those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but[k] there be none,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor[l] did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job Wishes He Had Died
11 “Why did I not die at[m] birth?
Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did the knees receive me
and the breasts, that I could suck?
13 For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest[n]
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuild [o] ruins for themselves,
15 or with high officials who have gold,[p]
who fill up their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage,
like infants who did not see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary[q] are at rest;
18 the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his masters.[r]
Job Wishes He Might Die
20 “Why does he[s] give light to one in misery
and life to those bitter of soul,
21 who wait for death, but[t] it does not come,[u]
and search[v] for it more than for treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly,[w]
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why does he[x] give light to a man whose way is hidden,
and God has fenced him in all around?
24 For[y] my sighing comes before[z] my bread,[aa]
and my groanings gush forth like water
25 because the dread that I feel[ab] has come upon me,
and what I feared befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, and I am not at peace,
and I do not have rest, thus[ac] turmoil has come.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 Literally “After thus”
- Job 3:1 A different term than that employed in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9
- Job 3:2 Hebrew “And”
- Job 3:2 Literally “answered”
- Job 3:4 Or “be”
- Job 3:5 Literally “cloud”
- Job 3:5 Masculine plural referring to all three entities mentioned in this verse
- Job 3:5 Literally “blacknesses”
- Job 3:6 Literally “That night, let darkness seize it”
- Job 3:7 Or “be”
- Job 3:9 Hebrew “and”
- Job 3:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 3:11 Literally “from”
- Job 3:13 Literally “it would be at rest for me”
- Job 3:14 Literally “build”
- Job 3:15 Literally “gold is for them”
- Job 3:17 Literally “weary of strength”
- Job 3:19 Or “master”
- Job 3:20 Most likely God
- Job 3:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 3:21 Literally “it is not”
- Job 3:21 Or “dig”
- Job 3:22 Literally “unto rejoicing”
- Job 3:23 Most likely God
- Job 3:24 Or perhaps emphatic, “Indeed”
- Job 3:24 Or “in place of” (NET); literally “to the faces of”
- Job 3:24 Or “food”
- Job 3:25 Literally “dread”
- Job 3:26 Hebrew “and”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software