Job 3
New Catholic Bible
First Cycle of Speeches
Job Curses the Day He Was Born
Chapter 3
Perish the Day on Which I Was Born. 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:
3 “Perish the day on which I was born
and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born.’
4 May that day turn to darkness;[a]
may God not take note of it from above,
and may light not shine upon it.
5 May gloom and heavy darkness claim it;
let clouds spread over it
and blackness eclipse its light.
6 May thick darkness overpower it;
let it not be numbered among the days of the year
or reckoned in the cycle of the months.
7 “May that night be barren;
let no cry of joy be heard during it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the sea
and are prepared to rouse Leviathan.[b]
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
let it wait in vain for daylight
and never behold the first rays of dawn,
10 because it refused to shut the doors
of the womb of my mother who bore me
and shield my eyes from sorrow.
Why Go On Living?[c]
11 “Why did I not die at birth,
perishing as I came forth from the womb?
12 Why were there knees to receive me
or breasts for me to feed on?
13 “For now I would be lying in tranquility,
asleep and resting peacefully
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built palaces for themselves that now lie in ruins,
15 or with princes who possessed gold in abundance
and filled their homes with silver.
16 Or why was I not laid in a grave like a stillborn child,
like an infant that had never seen the light?
17 “In death[d] the wicked are free from worldly troubles
and the weary find rest.
18 There the captives enjoy the solace of peace
without having to cringe at the voice of their masters.
19 The small and the great are there as equals,
and servants are free from their masters.
What Good Is Life?[e]
20 “Why is light given to those in misery
and life to those whose hearts are bitter,
21 who long for death that never comes
and seek for it more than for hidden treasure,
22 who would rejoice to see the grave
and exult on reaching the tomb,
23 who are unable to find their way
and whom God has hemmed in on every side?[f]
24 “Sighs are for me my only food,
and my groans pour forth like water.
25 Everything that I fear has afflicted me,
and whatever I dread befalls me.
26 I am unable to find peace of mind or tranquility;
troubles assail me, and I find no rest.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:4 May that day turn to darkness: in the beginning God had said: “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3). Now Job so to speak says: “Let there be darkness,” negating God’s creative act.
- Job 3:8 This is an allusion to those sorcerers who claimed to be able to make days unlucky and to upset the order of the world. The sea: another possible translation is: “days.” Leviathan: here it symbolizes the dark forces in the primitive chaos that God conquered and relegated to the depths of the ocean (see Pss 74:14; 104:26; Isa 27:1; 51:9; Am 9:3). Other creatures have also been put forth for the Leviathan, e.g., a killer whale.
- Job 3:11 In his suffering, Job regrets that he ever lived and longs for the hereafter: a kind of sleep in which there is no longer any place for suffering or for the unjust inequalities of the human condition. This hereafter is not the grave but the netherworld, which is a great pit within the earth in which the dead, now only shadows of themselves, are gathered together.
- Job 3:17 In death: literally, “there.”
- Job 3:20 The author expands the debate and raises the fundamental question: Does life still have value for someone whom Providence has left without children?
- Job 3:23 Earlier in the Book, Job is said to have been in God’s safekeeping (Job 1:10). Now Job feels that God has hemmed him in on every side, leaving him in turmoil (see v. 26).
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.
Job 3
Contemporary English Version
Job's First Speech
Blot Out the Day of My Birth
3 (A) Finally, Job cursed the day
of his birth
2 by saying to God:
3 Blot out the day of my birth
and the night when my parents
created a son.
4 Forget about that day,
cover it with darkness,
5 and send thick, gloomy shadows
to fill it with dread.
6 Erase that night from the calendar
and conceal it with darkness.
7 Don't let children be created
or joyful shouts be heard
ever again in that night.
8 Let those with magic powers[a]
place a curse on that day.
9 Darken its morning stars
and remove all hope of light,
10 because it let me be born
into a world of trouble.
Why Didn't I Die at Birth?
11 Why didn't I die at birth?
12 Why was I accepted[b]
and allowed to nurse
at my mother's breast?
13 Now I would be at peace
in the silent world below
14 with kings and their advisors
whose palaces lie in ruins,
15 and with rulers once rich
with silver and gold.
16 I wish I had been born dead
and then buried, never to see
the light of day.
17 In the world of the dead,
the wicked and the weary rest
without a worry.
* 18 Everyone is there—
19 where captives and slaves
are free at last.
Why Does God Let Me Live?
20 Why does God let me live
when life is miserable
and so bitter?
21 (B) I keep longing for death
more than I would seek
a valuable treasure.
22 Nothing could make me happier
than to be in the grave.
23 Why do I go on living
when God has me surrounded,
and I can't see the road?
24 Moaning and groaning
are my food and drink,
25 and my worst fears
have all come true.
26 I have no peace or rest—
only troubles and worries.
Footnotes
- 3.8 those with magic powers: The Hebrew text has “those who can place a curse on the day and rouse up Leviathan,” which was some kind of sea monster. God's victory over this monster sometimes stood for God's power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of his enemies (see Isaiah 27.1). In Job 41.1, Leviathan is either a sea monster or a crocodile with almost supernatural powers.
- 3.12 Why was I accepted: The Hebrew text has “Why were there knees to receive me,” which may refer either to Job's mother or to his father, who would have placed Job on his knees to show that he had accepted him as his child.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
