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.
约伯记 3
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
约伯咒诅自己
3 后来，约伯开口咒诅自己的生日， 2 说：
3 “愿我出生的那日和怀我的那夜灭没。
4 愿那日一片黑暗，
被天上的上帝遗忘，
没有阳光照耀。
5 愿那日被黑暗和阴影笼罩，
被密云覆盖，
被阴暗淹没。
6 愿那夜被幽暗吞噬，
不列在年日中，
不算在岁月里。
7 愿那夜无人生育，
毫无快乐之声。
8 愿那些咒诅白日、
能惹动海怪的人，
咒诅那夜。
9 愿那夜的晨星昏暗，
等不到晨光的出现，
看不见黎明的眼帘。
10 因为那夜没有关闭我母胎的门，
以致让我看见患难。
11 “为何我不出生时就夭折，
出母胎时就断气？
12 为何要把我抱在膝上，
用乳汁哺育我？
13 不然我早已安然躺卧、长眠安息，
14 与世上的君王和谋臣作伴——他们建造的宫殿已荒废，
15 与房屋堆满金银的王侯同眠。
16 为何我没有像未见天日就流产的婴儿一样消逝？
17 那里，恶人不再搅扰，
疲惫者得到安息，
18 被囚者得到安宁，
听不见监工的斥责。
19 尊贵与卑贱的人都在那里，
奴仆不再受主人的辖制。
20 “为何赐光给受苦的人，
赐生命给心灵痛苦的人？
21 他们等候死亡却等不到，
他们求死胜于求宝藏。
22 他们归入坟墓时非常快乐，
欣喜若狂。
23 为何赐生命给前路渺茫、
被上帝围困的人？
24 我以叹息为食，
呻吟如水涌流。
25 我害怕的事发生了，
我恐惧的事来临了。
26 我不得安宁，
不得平静，
不得安息，
只有苦难。”
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