Job 3
Expanded Bible
Job Curses His Birth
3 ·After seven days [L Afterward] Job ·cried out [L opened his mouth] and cursed ·the day he had been born [L his day; Jer. 20:14–18], 2 saying:
3 “Let the day I was born be destroyed,
and the night it was said, ‘A boy is ·born [L conceived]!’
4 Let that day turn to darkness [C contrast Gen. 1:3].
Don’t let God ·care about [L seek] it.
Don’t let light shine on it.
5 Let darkness and gloom ·have that day [L redeem it].
Let a cloud ·hide [L settle over] it.
Let thick darkness ·cover its light [overwhelm the day].
6 Let thick darkness capture that night.
Don’t count it among the days of the year
or put it in any of the months.
7 Let that night be ·empty [barren],
with no shout of joy ·to be heard [L entering it].
8 Let those who curse ·days [or the Sea; C a symbol of chaos] curse that day [C Balaam (Num. 22–24) is an example of a professional curser].
Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan [C a creature in ancient Near Eastern texts that represents chaos; 41:1, 12; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Is. 27:1].
9 Let that day’s morning stars ·never appear [L become dark];
let it ·wait [hope] for daylight that never comes.
Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
10 because it ·allowed me to be born [L did not shut the doors of my (mother’s) womb]
and did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I ·was born [L came out of the womb]?
Why didn’t I die when I came out of the ·womb [L belly; Eccl. 6:3–5]?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me,
and ·my mother’s breasts feed me [L why were there breasts that I could suck]?
13 If they had not been there,
I would be lying dead in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and wise men of the earth
who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15 I would be asleep with rulers
who filled their houses with gold and silver.
16 Why was I not ·buried [L hidden] like a ·child born dead [stillborn],
like a baby who never saw the light of day?
17 In the grave the wicked ·stop making trouble [or cease their agitation],
and the weary workers are at rest.
18 In the grave there is rest for the ·captives [prisoners]
who no longer hear the ·shout [L voice] of the ·slave driver [taskmaster].
19 People great and small are ·in the grave [L there],
and the ·slave [servant] is freed from his master.
20 “Why is light given to those in misery?
Why is life given to those who are ·so unhappy [depressed]?
21 They want to die, but death does not come.
They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22 They are very happy
[L they celebrate] when they get to the grave.
23 They cannot see where they are going.
God has ·hidden the road ahead [L placed a hedge around him].
24 I ·make sad sounds [sigh] as I eat;
my groans pour out like water.
25 ·Everything I feared and dreaded
has happened to me.
[or For the dread I dreaded has come to me,
and what I feared has come to me.]
26 I have no peace or quietness.
I have no rest, only ·trouble [agitation].”
Job 3
New American Standard Bible
Job’s Lament
3 Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed [a]the day of his birth. 2 And Job [b]said,
3 “(A)May the day on which I was to be born perish,
As well as the night which said, ‘A [c]boy is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not care for it,
Nor light shine on it.
5 May (B)darkness and black gloom claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year;
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, may that night be barren;
May no joyful shout enter it.
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Who are [d]prepared to (C)disturb Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
May it wait for light but have none,
And may it not see the [e]breaking dawn;
10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,
Or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “(D)Why did I not die [f]at birth,
Come out of the womb and pass away?
12 Why were the knees there in front of me,
And why the breasts, that I would nurse?
13 For now I (E)would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,
14 With (F)kings and (G)counselors of the earth,
Who rebuilt (H)ruins for themselves;
15 Or with (I)rulers (J)who had gold,
Who were filling their houses with silver.
16 Or like a miscarriage which is [g]hidden, I would not exist,
As infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from raging,
And there the [h]weary are at (K)rest.
18 The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.
20 “Why is (L)light given to one burdened with grief,
And life to the bitter of soul,
21 Who [i](M)long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for (N)hidden treasures;
22 Who are filled with jubilation,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man (O)whose way is hidden,
And whom (P)God has shut off?
24 For (Q)my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And (R)my cries pour out like water.
25 For [j](S)what I fear comes upon me,
And what I dread [k]encounters me.
26 I (T)am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
