Job 3
International Standard Version
Job Laments the Day He was Born
3 After this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing[a] the day he was born.[b] 2 This is what Job said:
3 “Let the day when I was born be annihilated,
along with the night when it was announced,
‘It’s a boy!’[c]
4 Let that day be dark;
let God above not care about it;
let no light shine over it.
5 Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it;
let clouds settle down on it;
let blackness in mid-day terrify it.
6 Let darkness carry that night away;
let it not take its place joyfully among the days of the year;
let it not be entered into the calendar.[d]
7 “Yes, let that night be barren;
let it not appear with its joyful shout.
8 Let whoever curses days curse it—
those who are ready to awaken monsters.[e]
9 Let the stars of its evening twilight be dark;
let it hope for light but let there be none;
let it not see the breaking rays[f] of the dawn.
10 “Because that night[g] refused to shut the doors of my mother’s[h] womb;
it failed to keep me from seeing this trouble.
11 Why didn’t I die while I was still in the womb,
or die while I was being born?
12 Why was there a lap[i] to hold me,
and why were there breasts to nurse me?
13 “If I had died,[j] I would be lying down by now,
undisturbed, asleep, and at rest,
14 along with kings and counselors of the earth,
who used to build for themselves what are now only[k] ruins,
15 or princes who amassed[l] gold for themselves,
and who kept filling their houses with silver.
16 “Or why was I not buried[m] like a stillborn child,[n]
like babies[o] who never saw the light?
17 In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble,
and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest.
18 In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together;
they won’t hear the voice of oppressors.
19 The unimportant and the important are both there,
and the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why does God[p] give light to the sufferer
or life to the bitter person:
21 To those who are longing for death—
even though it does not come?
To those who search for it
more than for hidden treasure?
22 To those who are happy beyond measure[q]
when they reach their graves?
23 To the formerly successful[r] man who lost his way in life,
and God fenced him in?
24 “As far as I’m concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs,
and my cries of anguish pour out like water.
25 For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me,
what caused me to worry has engulfed[s] me.
26 I will not be at ease;
I will not be quiet;
I will not rest;
because trouble has arrived.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 Or Job opened his mouth and cursed
- Job 3:1 The Heb. lacks he was born
- Job 3:3 Lit. A man has been conceived
- Job 3:6 Lit. entered among the numbering of months
- Job 3:8 Lit. Leviathan; i.e. an ancient sea creature
- Job 3:9 Lit. the eyelashes
- Job 3:10 Lit. It
- Job 3:10 The Heb. lacks mother’s
- Job 3:12 Lit. Why were there knees
- Job 3:13 Lit. For
- Job 3:14 The Heb. lacks only
- Job 3:15 The Heb. lacks who amassed
- Job 3:16 Lit. hidden
- Job 3:16 Or miscarriage
- Job 3:16 Lit. children
- Job 3:20 Lit. he
- Job 3:22 Lit. happy with great rejoicing
- Job 3:23 Lit. the valiant
- Job 3:25 Lit. come
約伯記 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
約伯咒詛自己
3 後來，約伯開口咒詛自己的生日， 2 說：
3 「願我出生的那日和懷我的那夜滅沒。
4 願那日一片黑暗，
被天上的上帝遺忘，
沒有陽光照耀。
5 願那日被黑暗和陰影籠罩，
被密雲覆蓋，
被陰暗淹沒。
6 願那夜被幽暗吞噬，
不列在年日中，
不算在歲月裡。
7 願那夜無人生育，
毫無快樂之聲。
8 願那些咒詛白日、
能惹動海怪的人，
咒詛那夜。
9 願那夜的晨星昏暗，
等不到晨光的出現，
看不見黎明的眼簾。
10 因為那夜沒有關閉我母胎的門，
以致讓我看見患難。
11 「為何我不出生時就夭折，
出母胎時就斷氣？
12 為何要把我抱在膝上，
用乳汁哺育我？
13 不然我早已安然躺臥、長眠安息，
14 與世上的君王和謀臣作伴——他們建造的宮殿已荒廢，
15 與房屋堆滿金銀的王侯同眠。
16 為何我沒有像未見天日就流產的嬰兒一樣消逝？
17 那裡，惡人不再攪擾，
疲憊者得到安息，
18 被囚者得到安寧，
聽不見監工的斥責。
19 尊貴與卑賤的人都在那裡，
奴僕不再受主人的轄制。
20 「為何賜光給受苦的人，
賜生命給心靈痛苦的人？
21 他們等候死亡卻等不到，
他們求死勝於求寶藏。
22 他們歸入墳墓時非常快樂，
欣喜若狂。
23 為何賜生命給前路渺茫、
被上帝圍困的人？
24 我以歎息為食，
呻吟如水湧流。
25 我害怕的事發生了，
我恐懼的事來臨了。
26 我不得安寧，
不得平靜，
不得安息，
只有苦難。」
Job 3
The Voice
3 1-2 After all of this, Job opened his mouth and broke the silence. He spoke a curse, not upon God but upon his day of birth.
3 Job: May the day die on which I was born,
along with the night that spoke the words, “a boy is conceived.”
4 May that day of birth become darkness, and when it has disappeared,
may God above neither seek it out nor light find a way to shine on it.
5 Rather, let darkness and the shadow of death claim the day and its life-giving light.
Let storm clouds roll over it and threatening blackness terrorize it.
6 As to that night of my conception—
may it be snatched by the thick darkness of death’s realm,
Never to be released again for any year or any month—
so my conception and life could never have happened.
7 May that night prove infertile,
and may no moan of pleasure be heard there.
8 Bring out the enchanters, the diviners who cast their spells on the day—
who can awaken that beast, Leviathan—
9 And may the early-morning stars be extinguished.
Let the day wait for a light that won’t ever come,
And may it never see the eyelids of dawn crack open.
10 Because it neither closed the door of my mother’s womb
nor covered my eyes to these sorrows.
Reflecting on his conception, Job wishes darkness and death could have prevailed over light and life on that day. The one place that represents such darkness and death is called sheol. Job and his contemporaries believe all people go to sheol when they die. The Bible describes it as the very opposite of the heavens, a land of no return that is dark, dusty, and silent. Certainly this is not the heaven or hell of the New Testament; it is neither a place of communion with God nor a place of torment. One’s comfort after death is not determined by where he goes, but by whom he is with. The people of the Old Testament hope to “leave this world to sleep with their ancestors.” Such a fate is the reward of following God’s path in life.
11 Job: Why did I not die at my birth,
simply pass from the womb into death?
12 Why did my mother’s lap welcome me,
and why did her breasts nourish me?
13 If I had died, then I would now be reposed in quiet;
I would be sleeping in peace,
14 Resting with kings and their earthly ministers
who rebuilt ruined cities to glorify themselves,
15 With princes who possessed gold,
whose houses swelled with silver.
16 Why was I not buried in secret as a baby born still,
as a newborn who never saw light?
17 In the sleep of death, the wicked can do no more damage;
the weary ones at last find rest.
18 In death the captives are freed, together at ease,
and the shouts of their oppressors die along with them.
19 In the grave, together are the small and great,
and slaves from masters are emancipated.
20 Why is light awarded to those distressed,
and life given to embittered souls
21 Who long for a death that can’t be found,
though they mine the earth to find it
More than hidden veins of riches—
22 Who would be overjoyed and glad
when they find the grave?
23 Why is light wasted on the earthbound,
who cannot find their way and whom God has surrounded?
24 For I groan before every meal;
my moaning flows like water.
25 What I feared most descends on me;
my nightmare—now reality.
26 I have no peace; I have no quiet;
my resting, gone, has turned to riot.
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.