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
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.
约伯记 3
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
约伯咒诅自己的生日
3 后来，约伯开口咒诅自己的生日。 2 约伯说：
3 “愿我生的那日泯灭，
人说怀男胎的那夜灭没。
4 愿那日变成黑暗，
愿 神不从上面眷顾，
愿光明不照耀在其上。
5 愿黑暗与死荫索讨那日，
愿密云停留在上面，
愿白天的昏黑惊吓它。
6 愿那夜被幽暗夺去，
不让它连在平日之中，列入月数之内。
7 愿那夜没有生育，
也没有欢乐的声音。
8 那些咒诅日子、善于惹动海怪的，
愿他们咒诅那夜。
9 愿那夜黎明的星星变成黑暗，
愿那夜等候发光却不亮，见不到清晨的曙光。
10 因为那夜没有把我母胎的门关闭，
也没有把苦难隐藏，使我看不见。
切愿夭折
11 我为甚么不一离母胎就死去？
我为甚么不一出母腹就断气？
12 为甚么有膝承接我？
为甚么有乳哺养我？
13 不然，我早已躺下安息，
14 与世上那些为自己建造陵墓的君王和谋士同睡，
15 或与那些拥有黄金，房屋装满银子的王侯同眠。
16 我为甚么不像暗中流产的胎，未见天日的婴孩，归于无有呢？
17 在那里，恶人止息搅扰，
筋疲力尽的得安息；
18 被囚的同享安宁；
听不见督工的声音；
19 老少尊卑都在那里，
奴仆脱离主人的辖制。
厌恶生存
20 为甚么有光明赐给劳碌的人，
有生命赐给苦命的人呢？
21 他们想死却死不了，找死胜于找宝藏；
22 他们找到坟墓就高兴，非常欢喜快乐。
23 为甚么有生命赐给前途茫茫，又被 神四面围困的人呢？
24 我以叹息代替食物，
我唉哼的声音如水涌出。
25 我所惧怕的临到我，
我所惊恐的向我而来。
26 我不得安逸，不得安静，
也不得安息，却有搅扰来到。”
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.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.