³ “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’^(B)
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
⁵ May gloom and utter darkness^(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
⁶ That night—may thick darkness^(D) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
⁷ May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy^(E) be heard in it.
⁸ May those who curse days^[a] curse that day,^(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(G)
9 May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,^(H)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me^(J)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³ For now I would be lying down^(K) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,^(M)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(N)
15 with princes^(O) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(Q)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(S)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(T)
18 Captives^(U) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(V) shout.^(W)
19 The small and the great are there,^(X)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,^(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,^(Z)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,^(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?^(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,^(AC)
    whom God has hedged in?^(AD)
24 For sighing^(AE) has become my daily food;^(AF)
    my groans^(AG) pour out like water.^(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded^(AI) has happened to me.^(AJ)
26 I have no peace,^(AK) no quietness;
    I have no rest,^(AL) but only turmoil.”^(AM)

² “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
    But who can keep from speaking?^(AO)
3 Think how you have instructed many,^(AP)
    how you have strengthened feeble hands.^(AQ)
4 Your words have supported those who stumbled;^(AR)
    you have strengthened faltering knees.^(AS)
5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;^(AT)
    it strikes^(AU) you, and you are dismayed.^(AV)
6 Should not your piety be your confidence^(AW)
    and your blameless^(AX) ways your hope?

⁷ “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?^(AY)
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?^(AZ)
8 As I have observed,^(BA) those who plow evil^(BB)
    and those who sow trouble reap it.^(BC)
9 At the breath of God^(BD) they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more.^(BE)
10 The lions may roar^(BF) and growl,
    yet the teeth of the great lions^(BG) are broken.^(BH)
11 The lion perishes for lack of prey,^(BI)
    and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.^(BJ)

¹² “A word^(BK) was secretly brought to me,
    my ears caught a whisper^(BL) of it.^(BM)
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,^(BN)
14 fear and trembling^(BO) seized me
    and made all my bones shake.^(BP)
15 A spirit glided past my face,
    and the hair on my body stood on end.^(BQ)
16 It stopped,
    but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
    and I heard a hushed voice:^(BR)
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?^(BS)
    Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?^(BT)
18 If God places no trust in his servants,^(BU)
    if he charges his angels with error,^(BV)
19 how much more those who live in houses of clay,^(BW)
    whose foundations^(BX) are in the dust,^(BY)
    who are crushed^(BZ) more readily than a moth!^(CA)
20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;
    unnoticed, they perish forever.^(CB)
21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,^(CC)
    so that they die^(CD) without wisdom?’^(CE)

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”^[b]—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—^(P)

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”^[d](AA)