Job 3
International Children’s Bible
Job Curses His Birth
3 After seven days Job spoke. He cursed the day he had been born. 2 Job said:
3 “Let the day I was born be destroyed.
And destroy the night when it was said, ‘A boy is born!’
4 Let that day turn to darkness.
Let God not even care about it.
Don’t let light shine on that day.
5 Let darkness and gloom have that day.
Let a cloud hide that day.
Let darkness cover its light.
6 Let thick darkness capture that night.
Don’t count it among the days of the year.
Don’t put it in any of the months.
7 Let that night be empty.
Let no shout of joy be heard in it.
8 Let the people who curse days curse that day.
They know how to wake up the sea monster Leviathan.
9 Let that day’s morning stars become dark.
Let it wait for daylight, but don’t let it come.
Don’t let it see the first light of dawn.
10 This is because it allowed me to be born.
That day did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born?
Why didn’t I die when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me?
Why did my mother’s breasts feed me?
13 If they had not been there, I would be lying dead in peace.
I would be asleep and at rest.
14 I would be asleep with kings and wise men of the earth.
They built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15 I would be asleep with rulers who had gold.
They filled their houses with silver!
16 Or why was I not buried like a child born dead?
I wish I were like a baby who never saw the light of day.
17 In the grave the wicked stop causing trouble.
And people who are tired are at rest.
18 In the grave there is rest for the captives.
They no longer hear the shout of the slave driver.
19 People great and small are in the grave.
And the slave is freed from his master.
20 “Why is life given to those who are in misery?
Why is it given to those who are so unhappy?
21 Some people want to die, but death does not come.
They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22 They are very happy
when they get to the grave.
23 Life shouldn’t be given to a man who doesn’t know what will happen to him.
It shouldn’t be given to a man who feels trapped by God.
24 I make sad sounds as I eat.
My groans pour out like water.
25 The thing I was afraid of has happened to me.
And the thing I dreaded has happened.
26 I have no peace. I have no quietness.
I have no rest. I only have trouble.”
Job 3
The Message
Job Cries Out
What’s the Point of Life?
3 1-2 Then Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate:
3-10 “Obliterate the day I was born.
Blank out the night I was conceived!
Let it be a black hole in space.
May God above forget it ever happened.
Erase it from the books!
May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness,
shrouded by the fog,
swallowed by the night.
And the night of my conception—the devil take it!
Rip the date off the calendar,
delete it from the almanac.
Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness—
no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!
May those who are good at cursing curse that day.
Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it.
May its morning stars turn to black cinders,
waiting for a daylight that never comes,
never once seeing the first light of dawn.
And why? Because it released me from my mother’s womb
into a life with so much trouble.
11-19 “Why didn’t I die at birth,
my first breath out of the womb my last?
Why were there arms to rock me,
and breasts for me to drink from?
I could be resting in peace right now,
asleep forever, feeling no pain,
In the company of kings and statesmen
in their royal ruins,
Or with princes resplendent
in their gold and silver tombs.
Why wasn’t I stillborn and buried
with all the babies who never saw light,
Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone
and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
Prisoners sleep undisturbed,
never again to wake up to the bark of the guards.
The small and the great are equals in that place,
and slaves are free from their masters.
20-23 “Why does God bother giving light to the miserable,
why bother keeping bitter people alive,
Those who want in the worst way to die, and can’t,
who can’t imagine anything better than death,
Who count the day of their death and burial
the happiest day of their life?
What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense,
when God blocks all the roads to meaning?
24-26 “Instead of bread I get groans for my supper,
then leave the table and vomit my anguish.
The worst of my fears has come true,
what I’ve dreaded most has happened.
My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed.
No rest for me, ever—death has invaded life.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson