[1] After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [2] And Job spoke, and said: [3] "May 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 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 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 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 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 did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? [12] 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 built ruins for themselves, [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 infants who never saw light? [17] There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest. [18] There the prisoners rest together; 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 is light given to him who is in misery, And life to the bitter of soul, [21] Who long for death, but it does not come, And search for it more than hidden treasures; [22] Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad when they can find the grave? [23] Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in? [24] For my sighing comes before I eat, And my groanings pour out like water. [25] For the thing I greatly 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."
