Job 3
Lexham English Bible
Job Regrets His Birth
3 Afterward[a] Job opened his mouth and cursed[b] his day. 2 Thus[c] Job spoke up[d] and said,
3 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
4 Let that day become[e] darkness;
may God not seek it from above,
nor may daylight shine on it.
5 Let darkness and deep shadow claim it;
let clouds[f] settle on it;
let them[g] terrify it with the blackness[h] of day.
6 Let darkness seize that night;[i]
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months.
7 Look, let that night become[j] barren;
let a joyful song not enter it.
8 Let those who curse the day curse it,
those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but[k] there be none,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor[l] did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job Wishes He Had Died
11 “Why did I not die at[m] birth?
Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did the knees receive me
and the breasts, that I could suck?
13 For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest[n]
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuild [o] ruins for themselves,
15 or with high officials who have gold,[p]
who fill up their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage,
like infants who did not see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary[q] are at rest;
18 the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his masters.[r]
Job Wishes He Might Die
20 “Why does he[s] give light to one in misery
and life to those bitter of soul,
21 who wait for death, but[t] it does not come,[u]
and search[v] for it more than for treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly,[w]
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why does he[x] give light to a man whose way is hidden,
and God has fenced him in all around?
24 For[y] my sighing comes before[z] my bread,[aa]
and my groanings gush forth like water
25 because the dread that I feel[ab] has come upon me,
and what I feared befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, and I am not at peace,
and I do not have rest, thus[ac] turmoil has come.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 Literally “After thus”
- Job 3:1 A different term than that employed in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9
- Job 3:2 Hebrew “And”
- Job 3:2 Literally “answered”
- Job 3:4 Or “be”
- Job 3:5 Literally “cloud”
- Job 3:5 Masculine plural referring to all three entities mentioned in this verse
- Job 3:5 Literally “blacknesses”
- Job 3:6 Literally “That night, let darkness seize it”
- Job 3:7 Or “be”
- Job 3:9 Hebrew “and”
- Job 3:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 3:11 Literally “from”
- Job 3:13 Literally “it would be at rest for me”
- Job 3:14 Literally “build”
- Job 3:15 Literally “gold is for them”
- Job 3:17 Literally “weary of strength”
- Job 3:19 Or “master”
- Job 3:20 Most likely God
- Job 3:21 Hebrew “and”
- Job 3:21 Literally “it is not”
- Job 3:21 Or “dig”
- Job 3:22 Literally “unto rejoicing”
- Job 3:23 Most likely God
- Job 3:24 Or perhaps emphatic, “Indeed”
- Job 3:24 Or “in place of” (NET); literally “to the faces of”
- Job 3:24 Or “food”
- Job 3:25 Literally “dread”
- Job 3:26 Hebrew “and”
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.