[1] Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [2] And Job answered and said, [3] “Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A man is conceived.’ [4] “May that day be darkness; Let not God seek it from above, Nor light shine on it. [5] “Let darkness and shadow of death redeem it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it. [6] “As for that night, let thick darkness take it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months. [7] “Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it. [8] “Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are ready to rouse Leviathan. [9] “Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it hope for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn, [10] Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s body, Or hide trouble from my eyes. [11] “Why did I not die from the womb, Come forth from the womb and breathe my last? [12] “Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck? [13] “For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then; it would have been rest to me, [14] With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt waste places for themselves, [15] Or with princes who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver. [16] “Or why was I not like a miscarriage hidden away, As infants that never saw light? [17] “There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary of strength are at 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 light given to him who is troubled, And life to the bitter of soul, [21] Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures, [22] Who are glad with joy, And rejoice when they find the grave? [23] “Why is light 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 roaring pours out like water. [25] “For the dread that I dread comes upon me, And what I am afraid of befalls me. [26] “I am not complacent, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, and raging comes.”
