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.

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.