Job 3
II. Job’s Dialogue With His Friends
(3:1-27:33)1
Job Regrets His Birth
3:1 After this Job opened his mouth2 and cursed3 the day he was born.4 3:2 Job spoke up5 and said:
3:3 “Let the day on which6 I was born7 perish,
and the night that said,8
‘A man9 has been conceived!’10
3:4 That day11 – let it be darkness;12
let not God on high regard13 it,
nor let light shine14 on it!
3:5 Let darkness and the deepest
let a cloud settle on it;
let whatever blackens the day17 terrify it!
3:6 That night – let darkness seize18 it;
let it not be included19 among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months!20
3:7 Indeed,21 let that night be barren;22
let no shout of joy23 penetrate24 it!
3:8 Let those who curse the day25 curse it26 –
those who are prepared to rouse27 Leviathan.28
3:9 Let its morning stars29 be darkened;
let it wait30 for daylight but find none,31
nor let it see the first rays32 of dawn,
3:10 because it33 did not shut the doors34 of my mother’s womb on me,35
nor did it hide trouble36 from my eyes!
Job Wishes He Had Died at Birth37
3:11 “Why did I not38 die39 at birth,40
and why did I not expire
as41 I came out of the womb?
3:12 Why did the knees welcome me,42
and why were there43 two breasts44
that I might nurse at them?45
3:13 For now46 I would be lying down
I would be asleep and then at peace49
3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate,50
3:15 or with princes who possessed gold,51
who filled their palaces52 with silver.
3:16 Or why53 was54 I not buried55
like a stillborn infant,56
like infants57 who have never seen the light?58
3:17 There59 the wicked60 cease61 from turmoil,62
and there the weary63 are at rest.
3:18 There64 the prisoners65 relax66 together;67
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.68
3:19 Small and great are69 there,
and the slave is free70 from his master.71
Longing for Death72
3:20 “Why does God73 give74 light to one who is in misery,75
and life to those76 whose soul is bitter,
3:21 to77 those who wait78 for death that79 does not come,
and search for it80
more than for hidden treasures,
3:22 who rejoice81 even to jubilation,82
and are exultant83 when84 they find the grave?85
3:23 Why is light given86 to a man87
whose way is hidden,88
and whom God has hedged in?89
3:24 For my sighing comes in place of90 my food,91
and my groanings92 flow forth like water.93
3:25 For the very thing I dreaded94 has happened95 to me,
and what I feared has come upon me.96
3:26 I have no ease,97 I have no quietness;