Job 3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II. First Cycle of Speeches
Chapter 3
Job’s Complaint. 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.[a] 2 Job spoke out and said:
3 Perish the day on which I was born,(A)
the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”
4 May that day be darkness:
may God[b] above not care for it,
may light not shine upon it!
5 May darkness and gloom claim it,
clouds settle upon it,
blackness of day[c] affright it!
6 May obscurity seize that night;
may it not be counted among the days of the year,
nor enter into the number of the months!
7 May that night be barren;
let no joyful outcry greet it!
8 Let them curse it who curse the Sea,
those skilled at disturbing Leviathan![d]
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
may it look for daylight, but have none,
nor gaze on the eyes of the dawn,
10 Because it did not keep shut the doors of the womb
to shield my eyes from trouble!
11 Why did I not die at birth,(B)
come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did knees receive me,
or breasts nurse me?
13 For then I should have lain down and been tranquil;
had I slept, I should then have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth
who rebuilt what were ruins
15 Or with princes who had gold
and filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not buried away like a stillborn child,
like babies that have never seen the light?
17 There[e] the wicked cease from troubling,
there the weary are at rest.
18 The captives are at ease together,
and hear no overseer’s voice.
19 Small and great are there;
the servant is free from the master.
20 Why is light given to the toilers,
life to the bitter in spirit?
21 They wait for death and it does not come;
they search for it more than for hidden treasures.
22 They rejoice in it exultingly,
and are glad when they find the grave:
23 A man whose path is hidden from him,
one whom God has hemmed in![f]
24 For to me sighing comes more readily than food;
my groans well forth like water.
25 For what I feared overtakes me;
what I dreaded comes upon me.
26 I have no peace nor ease;
I have no rest, for trouble has come!
Footnotes
- 3:1 His day: that is, the day of his birth.
- 3:4 God: in Heb. ’Eloah, another name for the divinity, used frequently in Job.
- 3:5 Blackness of day: that is, an eclipse.
- 3:8 Leviathan: a mythological sea monster symbolizing primeval chaos. It is parallel to Sea, which was the opponent of Baal in the Ugaritic legends. Cf. 9:13; 26:13; 40:25–41:26; Ps 74:13–14; 104:26; Is 27:1.
- 3:17 There: in death.
- 3:23 Hemmed in: contrast the same verb as used in 1:10.
Job 3
GOD’S WORD Translation
Job Speaks: Job Curses the Day He Was Born
3 After all this, Job ⌞finally⌟ opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job said,
3 “Scratch out the day I was born
and the night that said, ‘A boy has been conceived!’
4 “That day—
let it be pitch-black.
Let God above not ⌞even⌟ care about it.
Let no light shine on it.
5 Let the darkness and long shadows claim it as their own.
Let a dark cloud hang over it.
Let the gloom terrify it.
6 “That night—
let the blackness take it away.
Let it not be included in the days of the year
or be numbered among the months.
7 Let that night be empty.
Let no joyful singing be heard in it.
8 Let those who curse the day [a]
(those who know how to wake up Leviathan)
curse that night.
9 Let its stars turn dark before dawn.
Let it hope for light and receive none.
Let it not see the first light of dawn
10 because it did not shut the doors of the womb ⌞from which I came⌟
or hide my eyes from trouble.
Why Did I Survive at Birth?
11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born
and breathe my last breath when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did knees welcome me?
Why did breasts let me nurse?
13 Instead of being alive,
I would now be quietly lying down.
I would now be sleeping peacefully.
14 I would be with the kings and the counselors of the world
who built for themselves ⌞what are now⌟ ruins.
15 I would be with princes
who had gold,
who filled their homes with silver.
16 I would be buried like a stillborn baby.
I would not exist.
I would be like infants who never saw the light.
17 There the wicked stop their raging.
There the weary are able to rest.
18 There the captives have no troubles at all.
There they do not hear the shouting of the slave driver.
19 There ⌞you find⌟ both the unimportant and important people.
There the slave is free from his master.
Why Do I Go on Living?
20 “Why give light to one in misery
and life to those who find it so bitter,
21 to those who long for death but it never comes—
though they dig for it more than for buried treasure?
22 They are ecstatic,
delighted to find the grave.
23 Why give light to those whose paths have been hidden,
to those whom God has fenced in?
24 “When my food is in front of me, I sigh.
I pour out my groaning like water.
25 What I fear most overtakes me.
What I dread happens to me.
26 I have no peace!
I have no quiet!
I have no rest!
And trouble keeps coming!”
Footnotes
- 3:8 Or “those who curse the sea.”
Job 3
La Biblia de las Américas
Lamentos de Job
3 Después abrió Job su boca y maldijo el día de su nacimiento[a]. 2 Y Job dijo[b]:
3 (A)Perezca el día en que yo nací,
y la noche que dijo: «Un varón ha sido concebido».
4 Sea ese día tinieblas,
no lo tome en cuenta Dios desde lo alto,
ni resplandezca sobre él la luz.
5 Apodérense de él tinieblas y densa oscuridad(B),
pósese sobre él una nube,
llénelo de terror la negrura del día.
6 Y en cuanto a aquella noche, apodérense de ella las tinieblas;
que no se alegre entre los días del año,
ni se cuente en el número de los meses.
7 He aquí, sea estéril aquella noche,
no entren en ella gritos de júbilo.
8 Maldíganla los que maldicen el día,
los que están listos[c] para despertar a Leviatán[d](C).
9 Oscurézcanse las estrellas de su alba;
que espere la luz mas no la tenga,
que tampoco vea el rayar[e] de la aurora;
10 porque no cerró las puertas[f] del vientre de mi madre,
ni escondió la aflicción de mis ojos.
11 ¿Por qué no morí yo al nacer[g],
o expiré al salir del vientre(D)?
12 ¿Por qué me recibieron las rodillas,
y para qué los pechos que me dieron de mamar?
13 Porque ahora yo yacería tranquilo;
dormiría, y entonces tendría descanso(E)
14 con los reyes(F) y los consejeros(G) de la tierra,
que reedificaron ruinas(H) para sí;
15 o con príncipes(I) que tenían oro,
que llenaban sus casas de plata(J).
16 O como aborto desechado[h], yo no existiría,
como los niños que nunca vieron la luz.
17 Allí los impíos cesan de airarse,
y allí reposan los cansados[i](K).
18 Juntos reposan los prisioneros;
no oyen la voz del capataz.
19 Allí están los pequeños y los grandes,
y el esclavo es libre de su señor.
20 ¿Por qué se da luz al que sufre(L),
y vida al amargado de alma;
21 a los que ansían[j] la muerte, pero no llega[k](M),
y cavan por ella más que por tesoros(N);
22 que se alegran sobremanera,
y se regocijan cuando encuentran el sepulcro?
23 ¿Por qué dar luz al hombre cuyo camino está escondido(O),
y a quien Dios ha cercado(P)?
24 Porque al ver mi alimento(Q) salen mis gemidos,
y mis clamores se derraman como agua(R).
25 Pues lo que temo[l] viene sobre mí,
y lo que me aterroriza me sucede(S).
26 No tengo reposo ni estoy tranquilo,
no descanso, sino que me viene turbación(T).
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 Lit., su día
- Job 3:2 Lit., respondió, y dijo
- Job 3:8 O, son hábiles
- Job 3:8 O, al monstruo marino
- Job 3:9 Lit., los párpados
- Job 3:10 O, la abertura
- Job 3:11 Lit., desde la matriz
- Job 3:16 Lit., oculto
- Job 3:17 Lit., cansados de fuerzas
- Job 3:21 Lit., esperan
- Job 3:21 Lit., hay ninguna
- Job 3:25 Lit., el temor que yo temo
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
