Job 3

Revised Geneva Translation

3 Afterward, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

² And Job cried out, and said,

³ “Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night when it was said, ‘There is a male child conceived.’

⁴ “Let that day be darkness. Do not let God seek it from above or let the light shine upon it.

⁵ “Let darkness, and the shadow of death, stain it. Let the cloud remain upon it. And let them make it fearful, as a bitter day.

⁶ “Let darkness possess that night. Do not let it be joined to the days of the year or let it come into the count of the months.

⁷ “Yea, let that night be desolate! And let no joy be in it!

⁸ “Let those who curse the day, curse it (being ready to renew their mourning).

⁹ “Let the stars of that twilight be dim through the darkness of it. Let it look for light but have none. Nor let it see the dawning of the day,

¹⁰ “because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb or hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not die at birth? Or why did I not die when I came out of the womb?

¹² “Why did the knees prevent me? And why did I suck the breasts?

¹³ “For I would now have lain down and been quiet. I would have slept then, and been at rest

¹⁴ “with the kings and counselors of the Earth, who have built themselves desolate places,

¹⁵ “or with the princes who had gold and have filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ “Or, why was I not hidden, as a stillborn birth, or as infants who have not seen the light?

¹⁷ “There the wicked have ceased from tyranny. And there those who labored valiantly are at rest.

¹⁸ “The prisoners rest together, not hearing the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹ “The small and great are there. And the servant is free from his master.

²⁰ “Why is the light given to him who is in misery, and life to those who have heavy hearts,

²¹ “who long for death? And if it does not come, they will search for it even more than treasures,

²² “who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave.

²³ “Why is the light given to the man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ “For my sighing comes before I eat. And my roarings are poured out like the water.

²⁵ “For the thing I feared has come upon me. And the thing that I was afraid of has come to me.

²⁶ “I had no peace. Nor had I quietness. Nor had I rest. Yet trouble has come.”