Skip to content- 1Verse 1. After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
- 2Verse 2. And this is what he said:
- 3Verse 3. “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
- 4Verse 4. If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.
- 5Verse 5. May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.
- 6Verse 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.
- 7Verse 7. Behold, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
- 8Verse 8. May it be cursed by those who curse the day— those prepared to rouse Leviathan.
- 9Verse 9. May its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn.
- 10Verse 10. For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
- 11Verse 11. Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
- 12Verse 12. Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?
- 13Verse 13. For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
- 14Verse 14. with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,
- 15Verse 15. or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
- 16Verse 16. Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
- 17Verse 17. There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.
- 18Verse 18. The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
- 19Verse 19. Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
- 20Verse 20. Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- 21Verse 21. who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,
- 22Verse 22. who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave?
- 23Verse 23. Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
- 24Verse 24. I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.
- 25Verse 25. For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
- 26Verse 26. I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”