Job 3
1599 Geneva Bible
3 1 Job complaineth, and curseth the day of his birth. 11 He desireth to die, as though death were the end of all man’s misery.
1 Afterward [a]Job opened his mouth, and [b]cursed his day.
2 And Job cried out, and said,
3 Let the day [c]perish wherein I was born, and the night when it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness, let not God [d]regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it,
5 But let darkness and the [e]shadow of death stain it: let the cloud remain upon it, and let them make it fearful as a bitter day.
6 Let darkness possess that night, let it not be joined unto the days of the year, nor let it come into the count of the months.
7 Yea, desolate be that night, and let no joy be in it.
8 Let them that curse the day, (being [f]ready to renew their mourning) curse it.
9 Let the stars of that twilight be dim through darkness of it: let it look for light, but have none: neither let it [g]see [h]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 [i]Why died I not in the birth? or why died I not, when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did the knees prevent me? and why did I suck the breasts?
13 For so should I now have [j]lain and been quiet, I should have slept then, and been at rest,
14 With the kings and counselors of the earth, which have built themselves [k]desolate places:
15 Or with the princes that had gold, and have filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hid, as an untimely birth, either as infants, which have not seen the light?
17 The wicked [l]have there ceased from their tyranny, and there they that labored valiantly, are at rest.
18 The [m]prisoners rest together, and hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 There are small and great, and the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is the light given to him that is in misery? and [n]life unto them that have heavy hearts?
21 Which long for death, and if it come not, they would even search it more than treasures:
22 Which joy for gladness, and rejoice, when they can find the grave.
23 Why is the light given to the man whose way is [o]hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the water.
25 For the thing I [p]feared, is come upon me, and the thing that I was afraid of, is come unto me.
26 I had no peace, neither had I quietness, neither had I rest, [q]yet trouble is come.
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 The seven days ended, Job 2:13.
- Job 3:1 Here Job beginneth to feel his great imperfection in this battle between the spirit and the flesh, Rom. 7:18, and after a manner yieldeth, yet in the end he getteth victory, though he was in the mean time greatly wounded.
- Job 3:3 Men ought not to be weary of their life, and curse it, because of the infirmities that it is subject unto, but because they are given to sin and rebellion against God.
- Job 3:4 Let it be put out of the number of days, and let it not have the light of the Sun to separate it from the night.
- Job 3:5 That is, most obscure darkness, which maketh them afraid of death that are in it.
- Job 3:8 Which curse the day of their birth, let them lay that curse upon this night.
- Job 3:9 Let it be always night, and never see day.
- Job 3:9 Hebrew, The eyelids of the morning.
- Job 3:11 This, and that which followeth, declareth, that when man giveth place to his passions, he is not able to stay nor keep measure, but runneth headlong into all evil, except God call him back.
- Job 3:13 The vehemency of his afflictions made him to utter these words, as though death were the end of all miseries, and as if there were no life after this, which he speaketh not as though it were so, but the infirmities of his flesh caused him to burst out in this error of the wicked.
- Job 3:14 He noteth the ambition of them, which for their pleasure as it were change the order of nature, and build in most barren places, because they would hereby make their names immortal.
- Job 3:17 That is, by death the cruelty of the tyrants hath ceased.
- Job 3:18 All they that sustain any kind of calamity and misery in this world: which he speaketh after the judgment of the flesh.
- Job 3:20 He showeth that the benefits of God are not comfortable, expect the heart be joyful, and the conscience quieted.
- Job 3:23 That seeth not how to come out of his miseries, because he dependeth not on God’s providence.
- Job 3:25 In my prosperity I looked ever for a fall, as is come now to pass.
- Job 3:26 The fear of troubles that should ensue, caused my prosperity to seem to me as nothing, and yet I am not exempted from trouble.
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].”
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