Job Laments His Birth

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² And this is what he said:

³ “May the day of my birth perish,

and the night it was said,

‘A boy^* is conceived.’^*

⁴ If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above disregard it;

may no light shine upon it.

⁵ May darkness and gloom reclaim it,^*

and a cloud settle over it;

may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

⁶ If only darkness had taken that night away!

May it not appear among the days of the year;

may it never be entered in any of the months.

⁷ Behold, may that night be barren;

may no joyful voice come into it.

⁸ May it be cursed^* by those who curse the day —

those prepared to rouse^* Leviathan.^*

⁹ May its morning stars grow dark;

may it wait in vain for daylight;

may it not see the breaking of dawn.

¹⁰ For that night did not shut the doors of the womb

to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹ Why did I not perish at birth;

why did I not die as I came from the womb?

¹² Why were there knees to receive me,

and breasts that I should be nursed?

¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace;

I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth,

who built for themselves cities now in ruins,

¹⁵ or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,

like an infant who never sees daylight?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from raging,

and there the weary find rest.

¹⁸ The captives enjoy their ease;

they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹ Both small and great are there,

and the slave is freed from his master.

²⁰ Why is light given to the miserable,

and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹ who long for death that does not come,

and search for it like hidden treasure,

²² who rejoice^* and greatly exult

when they reach the grave?

²³ Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ I sigh when food is put before me,

and my groans pour out like water.

²⁵ For the thing I feared has overtaken me,

and what I dreaded has befallen me.

²⁶ I am not at ease or quiet;

I have no rest, for trouble has come.”