Job 3
New American Standard Bible
Job’s Lament
3 Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed [a]the day of his birth. 2 And Job [b]said,
3 “(A)May the day on which I was to be born perish,
As well as the night which said, ‘A [c]boy is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not care for it,
Nor light shine on it.
5 May (B)darkness and black gloom claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year;
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, may that night be barren;
May no joyful shout enter it.
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Who are [d]prepared to (C)disturb Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened;
May it wait for light but have none,
And may it not see the [e]breaking dawn;
10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,
Or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “(D)Why did I not die [f]at birth,
Come out of the womb and pass away?
12 Why were the knees there in front of me,
And why the breasts, that I would nurse?
13 For now I (E)would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,
14 With (F)kings and (G)counselors of the earth,
Who rebuilt (H)ruins for themselves;
15 Or with (I)rulers (J)who had gold,
Who were filling their houses with silver.
16 Or like a miscarriage which is [g]hidden, I would not exist,
As infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from raging,
And there the [h]weary are at (K)rest.
18 The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.
20 “Why is (L)light given to one burdened with grief,
And life to the bitter of soul,
21 Who [i](M)long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for (N)hidden treasures;
22 Who are filled with jubilation,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man (O)whose way is hidden,
And whom (P)God has shut off?
24 For (Q)my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And (R)my cries pour out like water.
25 For [j](S)what I fear comes upon me,
And what I dread [k]encounters me.
26 I (T)am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”
Job 3
International Standard Version
Job Laments the Day He was Born
3 After this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing[a] the day he was born.[b] 2 This is what Job said:
3 “Let the day when I was born be annihilated,
along with the night when it was announced,
‘It’s a boy!’[c]
4 Let that day be dark;
let God above not care about it;
let no light shine over it.
5 Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it;
let clouds settle down on it;
let blackness in mid-day terrify it.
6 Let darkness carry that night away;
let it not take its place joyfully among the days of the year;
let it not be entered into the calendar.[d]
7 “Yes, let that night be barren;
let it not appear with its joyful shout.
8 Let whoever curses days curse it—
those who are ready to awaken monsters.[e]
9 Let the stars of its evening twilight be dark;
let it hope for light but let there be none;
let it not see the breaking rays[f] of the dawn.
10 “Because that night[g] refused to shut the doors of my mother’s[h] womb;
it failed to keep me from seeing this trouble.
11 Why didn’t I die while I was still in the womb,
or die while I was being born?
12 Why was there a lap[i] to hold me,
and why were there breasts to nurse me?
13 “If I had died,[j] I would be lying down by now,
undisturbed, asleep, and at rest,
14 along with kings and counselors of the earth,
who used to build for themselves what are now only[k] ruins,
15 or princes who amassed[l] gold for themselves,
and who kept filling their houses with silver.
16 “Or why was I not buried[m] like a stillborn child,[n]
like babies[o] who never saw the light?
17 In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble,
and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest.
18 In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together;
they won’t hear the voice of oppressors.
19 The unimportant and the important are both there,
and the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why does God[p] give light to the sufferer
or life to the bitter person:
21 To those who are longing for death—
even though it does not come?
To those who search for it
more than for hidden treasure?
22 To those who are happy beyond measure[q]
when they reach their graves?
23 To the formerly successful[r] man who lost his way in life,
and God fenced him in?
24 “As far as I’m concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs,
and my cries of anguish pour out like water.
25 For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me,
what caused me to worry has engulfed[s] me.
26 I will not be at ease;
I will not be quiet;
I will not rest;
because trouble has arrived.”
Footnotes
- Job 3:1 Or Job opened his mouth and cursed
- Job 3:1 The Heb. lacks he was born
- Job 3:3 Lit. A man has been conceived
- Job 3:6 Lit. entered among the numbering of months
- Job 3:8 Lit. Leviathan; i.e. an ancient sea creature
- Job 3:9 Lit. the eyelashes
- Job 3:10 Lit. It
- Job 3:10 The Heb. lacks mother’s
- Job 3:12 Lit. Why were there knees
- Job 3:13 Lit. For
- Job 3:14 The Heb. lacks only
- Job 3:15 The Heb. lacks who amassed
- Job 3:16 Lit. hidden
- Job 3:16 Or miscarriage
- Job 3:16 Lit. children
- Job 3:20 Lit. he
- Job 3:22 Lit. happy with great rejoicing
- Job 3:23 Lit. the valiant
- Job 3:25 Lit. come
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