VerseAI

NIV

Job 3

  1. 1<pb/>After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
  2. 2He said:
  3. 3<pb/><t>“May the day of my birth perish,</t> <t>and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’</t>
  4. 4<t>That day—may it turn to darkness;</t> <t>may God above not care about it;</t> <t>may no light shine on it.</t>
  5. 5<t>May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;</t> <t>may a cloud settle over it;</t> <t>may blackness overwhelm it.</t>
  6. 6<t>That night—may thick darkness seize it;</t> <t>may it not be included among the days of the year</t> <t>nor be entered in any of the months.</t>
  7. 7<t>May that night be barren;</t> <t>may no shout of joy be heard in it.</t>
  8. 8<t>May those who curse days<f>[6]</f> curse that day,</t> <t>those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.</t>
  9. 9<t>May its morning stars become dark;</t> <t>may it wait for daylight in vain</t> <t>and not see the first rays of dawn,</t>
  10. 10<t>for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me</t> <t>to hide trouble from my eyes. <pb/></t>
  11. 11<t>“Why did I not perish at birth,</t> <t>and die as I came from the womb?</t>
  12. 12<t>Why were there knees to receive me</t> <t>and breasts that I might be nursed?</t>
  13. 13<t>For now I would be lying down in peace;</t> <t>I would be asleep and at rest</t>
  14. 14<t>with kings and rulers of the earth,</t> <t>who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,</t>
  15. 15<t>with princes who had gold,</t> <t>who filled their houses with silver.</t>
  16. 16<t>Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,</t> <t>like an infant who never saw the light of day?</t>
  17. 17<t>There the wicked cease from turmoil,</t> <t>and there the weary are at rest.</t>
  18. 18<t>Captives also enjoy their ease;</t> <t>they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.</t>
  19. 19<t>The small and the great are there,</t> <t>and the slaves are freed from their owners. <pb/></t>
  20. 20<t>“Why is light given to those in misery,</t> <t>and life to the bitter of soul,</t>
  21. 21<t>to those who long for death that does not come,</t> <t>who search for it more than for hidden treasure,</t>
  22. 22<t>who are filled with gladness</t> <t>and rejoice when they reach the grave?</t>
  23. 23<t>Why is life given to a man</t> <t>whose way is hidden,</t> <t>whom God has hedged in?</t>
  24. 24<t>For sighing has become my daily food;</t> <t>my groans pour out like water.</t>
  25. 25<t>What I feared has come upon me;</t> <t>what I dreaded has happened to me.</t>
  26. 26<t>I have no peace, no quietness;</t> <t>I have no rest, but only turmoil.”</t>