Job 3
Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Opening Speech
3 After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said:
3 May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said,
“A boy is conceived.”(A)
4 If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.
5 May darkness and gloom(B) reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
6 If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear[a] among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.[b]
7 Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout(C) be heard in it.
8 Let those who curse days
condemn(D) it,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(E)
9 May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking[c] of dawn.
10 For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?(F)
12 Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?(G)
13 Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.(H)
Then I would be at rest(I)
14 with the kings and counselors(J) of the earth,
who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses(K) with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,(L)
like infants who never see daylight?
17 There the wicked(M) cease to make trouble,
and there the weary find rest.
18 The captives are completely at rest;(N)
they do not hear a taskmaster’s voice.(O)
19 Both small and great are there,
and the slave is set free from his master.(P)
20 Why is light given to one burdened with grief,
and life to those whose existence is bitter,(Q)
21 who wait for death,(R) but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,
22 who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?(S)
23 Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,(T)
whom God has hedged in?
24 I sigh when food(U) is put before me,[d]
and my groans pour out like water.(V)
25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.(W)
26 I cannot relax or be calm;
I have no rest,(X) for turmoil has come.
Job 3
Living Bible
3 At last Job spoke and cursed the day of his birth.
2-3 “Let the day of my birth be cursed,” he said, “and the night when I was conceived. 4 Let that day be forever forgotten.[a] Let it be lost even to God, shrouded in eternal darkness. 5 Yes, let the darkness claim it for its own, and may a black cloud overshadow it. 6 May it be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the month of that year. 7 Let that night be bleak and joyless. 8 Let those who are experts at cursing curse it.[b] 9 Let the stars of the night disappear. Let it long for light but never see it, never see the morning light. 10 Curse it for its failure to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to come to all this trouble.
11 “Why didn’t I die at birth? 12 Why did the midwife let me live? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13 For if only I had died at birth, then I would be quiet now, asleep and at rest, 14-15 along with prime ministers and kings with all their pomp, and wealthy princes whose castles are full of rich treasures. 16 Oh, to have been stillborn!—to have never breathed or seen the light. 17 For there in death the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. 18 There even prisoners are at ease, with no brutal jailer to curse them. 19 Both rich and poor alike are there, and the slave is free at last from his master.
20-21 “Oh, why should light and life be given to those in misery and bitterness, who long for death, and it won’t come; who search for death as others search for food or money? 22 What blessed relief when at last they die! 23 Why is a man allowed to be born if God is only going to give him a hopeless life of uselessness and frustration? 24 I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water. 25 What I always feared has happened to me. 26 I was not fat and lazy, yet trouble struck me down.”
Job 3
Traducción en lenguaje actual
Las quejas de Job
3 Llegó el momento en que Job ya no pudo más y comenzó a maldecir el día en que nació. 2 Entonces, dijo:
3 «¡Maldito sea el día en que nací!
Maldita la noche en que anunciaron:
“¡Fue niño!”
4-6 ¡Que borren del calendario ese día!
¡Que nadie se acuerde de él,
ni siquiera el Dios del cielo!
¡Que sea arrojado en las tinieblas
y todos se olviden de él!
7 »¡Que en esa noche
nadie vuelva a nacer!
¡Que nadie grite de alegría!
8 ¡Que maldigan ese día
los que tienen poder
sobre el monstruo del mar!
9 ¡Que ese día no salga el sol
ni se vea la estrella de la mañana,
10 porque me dejó nacer
en un mundo de miserias!
11-13 »Mejor hubiera nacido muerto.
¡Así nadie me habría abrazado
ni me habría amamantado,
y ahora estaría descansando en paz!
14-15 ¡Estaría en la compañía
de esos reyes, gobernantes y consejeros
que construyeron grandes monumentos
y llenaron de oro y plata sus palacios!
16 »Mejor me hubieran enterrado
como se entierra a los niños
que nacen antes de tiempo
y nunca llegan a ver el sol.
17-18 Para los cansados y prisioneros,
la muerte es un descanso,
pues ya no oyen gritar al capataz.
Con la muerte, los malvados
dejan de hacer destrozos.
19 En la muerte se encuentran
los débiles y los poderosos,
y los esclavos se libran de sus amos.
20 »¿Por qué nos deja nacer Dios
si en la vida sólo vamos a sufrir?
¿Por qué deja seguir viviendo
a los que viven amargados?
21 Buscan con ansias la muerte,
como si buscaran un tesoro escondido.
Quisieran morirse,
pero la muerte no llega.
22 ¡Muy grande sería su alegría
si pudieran bajar a la tumba!
23 »Dios nos cierra el paso
y nos hace caminar a ciegas.
24 Lágrimas y quejas
son todo mi alimento.
25-26 Ya he perdido la paz.
Mis peores temores
se han hecho realidad».
Job 3
King James Version
3 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Job spake, and said,
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?
13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;
15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
21 Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
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