Job 3
New King James Version
Job Deplores His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job [a]spoke, and said:
3 “May(A) the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and (B)the shadow of death 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 [b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Those (C)who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
9 May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the [c]dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 “Why(D) did I not die at birth?
Why did I not [d]perish when I came from the womb?
12 (E)Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who (F)built ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden (G)like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the [e]weary are at (H)rest.
18 There the prisoners [f]rest together;
(I)They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why(J) is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the (K)bitter of soul,
21 Who (L)long[g] for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than (M)hidden treasures;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the (N)grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
(O)And whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before [h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
25 For the thing I greatly (P)feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
Job 3
Amplified Bible
Job’s Lament
3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 [a]And Job said,
3
“Let the day on which I was born perish,
And the night which announced: ‘There is a man-child conceived.’
4
“May that day be darkness;
Let God above not care about it,
Nor light shine on it.
5
“Let darkness and gloom claim it for their own;
Let a cloud settle upon it;
Let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).
6
“As for that night, let darkness seize it;
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
Let it not be counted in the number of the months.
7
“Behold, let that night be barren [and empty];
Let no joyful voice enter it.
8
“Let those curse it [b]who curse the day,
Who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.
9
“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;
Let the morning wait in vain for the light,
Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),
10
Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11
“Why did I not die at birth,
Come forth from the womb and expire?
12
“Why did the knees receive me?
And why the breasts, that I would nurse?
13
“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],
14
With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;
15
Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver.
16
“Or like a miscarriage which is hidden and put away, I would not exist,
Like infants who never saw light.
17
“There [in death] the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary are at rest.
18
“There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
19
“The small and the great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.(A)
20
“Why is the light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter in soul,
21
Who wait for death, but it does not come,
And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,
22
Who rejoice exceedingly,
And rejoice when they find the grave?
23
“Why is the light of day given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
24
“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.
25
“For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me,
And that of which I am afraid has come upon me.
26
“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
And I am not at rest, and yet trouble still comes [upon me].”
Footnotes
- Job 3:2 The prose introduction ends at v 1 and the poetic heart of the book begins with v 2. One of the features of Hebrew poetry is the prevalence of pairs of statements in which the second statement either is parallel in thought to the first or contrasts with it. There is no rhyming or metrical correspondence.
- Job 3:8 Some ancient sorcerers claimed the ability to curse a day by calling up a terrifying, legendary creature, such as Leviathan, to devour the sun.
Job 3
New Living Translation
Job’s First Speech
3 At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:
3 “Let the day of my birth be erased,
and the night I was conceived.
4 Let that day be turned to darkness.
Let it be lost even to God on high,
and let no light shine on it.
5 Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own.
Let a black cloud overshadow it,
and let the darkness terrify it.
6 Let that night be blotted off the calendar,
never again to be counted among the days of the year,
never again to appear among the months.
7 Let that night be childless.
Let it have no joy.
8 Let those who are experts at cursing—
whose cursing could rouse Leviathan[a]—
curse that day.
9 Let its morning stars remain dark.
Let it hope for light, but in vain;
may it never see the morning light.
10 Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb,
for letting me be born to see all this trouble.
11 “Why wasn’t I born dead?
Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
12 Why was I laid on my mother’s lap?
Why did she nurse me at her breasts?
13 Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace.
I would be asleep and at rest.
14 I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers,
whose great buildings now lie in ruins.
15 I would rest with princes, rich in gold,
whose palaces were filled with silver.
16 Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child,
like a baby who never lives to see the light?
17 For in death the wicked cause no trouble,
and the weary are at rest.
18 Even captives are at ease in death,
with no guards to curse them.
19 Rich and poor are both there,
and the slave is free from his master.
20 “Oh, why give light to those in misery,
and life to those who are bitter?
21 They long for death, and it won’t come.
They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.
22 They’re filled with joy when they finally die,
and rejoice when they find the grave.
23 Why is life given to those with no future,
those God has surrounded with difficulties?
24 I cannot eat for sighing;
my groans pour out like water.
25 What I always feared has happened to me.
What I dreaded has come true.
26 I have no peace, no quietness.
I have no rest; only trouble comes.”
Footnotes
- 3:8 The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
