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Job responds differently

Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born.

Job said:
Perish the day I was born,
    the night someone said,
    “A boy has been conceived.”
That day—let it be darkness;
    may God above ignore it,
    and light not shine on it.
May deepest darkness claim it
    and a cloud linger over it;
    may all that darkens the day terrify it.
May gloom seize that night;
    may it not be counted in the days of a year;
    may it not appear in the months.
May that night be childless;
    may no happy singing come in it.
May those who curse the day curse it,
    those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
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.

Job laments his misfortune

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.

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:10 Heb lacks mother’s.
  2. Job 3:23 Heb lacks is light given.

约伯咒诅自己

后来,约伯开口咒诅自己的生日, 说:

“愿我出生的那日和怀我的那夜灭没。
愿那日一片黑暗,
被天上的上帝遗忘,
没有阳光照耀。
愿那日被黑暗和阴影笼罩,
被密云覆盖,
被阴暗淹没。
愿那夜被幽暗吞噬,
不列在年日中,
不算在岁月里。
愿那夜无人生育,
毫无快乐之声。
愿那些咒诅白日、
能惹动海怪的人,
咒诅那夜。
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 Deplores His Birth

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job [a]spoke, and said:

“May(A) the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
May darkness and (B)the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not [b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
May those curse it who curse the day,
Those (C)who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the [c]dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

11 “Why(D) did I not die at birth?
Why did I not [d]perish when I came from the womb?
12 (E)Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who (F)built ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden (G)like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the [e]weary are at (H)rest.
18 There the prisoners [f]rest together;
(I)They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

20 “Why(J) is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the (K)bitter of soul,
21 Who (L)long[g] for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than (M)hidden treasures;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the (N)grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
(O)And whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before [h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
25 For the thing I greatly (P)feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

Footnotes

  1. Job 3:2 Lit. answered
  2. Job 3:6 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. be joined
  3. Job 3:9 eyelids of the dawn
  4. Job 3:11 expire
  5. Job 3:17 Lit. weary of strength
  6. Job 3:18 are at ease
  7. Job 3:21 Lit. wait
  8. Job 3:24 Lit. my bread