The Book of Job

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- Chapter 3 -

Job laments his birth

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day,(a)

and this is what he said:

May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”

May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness.

Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.

May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.

May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan.

Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East.

For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes.

Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish?

Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?

For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep

with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes,

either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver,

or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.

There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest.

And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff.(b)

The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,

who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure

and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,

to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?

Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl,

for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me.

Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.

Footnotes

(a)3:1 Cursed his day:Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any thing of God’s creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular.(Challoner)

(b)3:18 The word ‘exactoris’ can mean bailiff or tax collector (as in a subsequent verse). Since this word is here used metaphorically, it is difficult to say which word would be the best translation. Job is referring to the dead, who do not hear the voice of ... tax collectors and government officials on earth ... or, perhaps, those in charge of their incarceration (in Purgatory?) in the afterlife.(Conte)

Job laments his birth

After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

Job answered:

“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’

Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes the day black terrify it.

As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,

because it didn’t shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.

“Why didn’t I die from the womb? Why didn’t I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should nurse?

For now I should have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would have been at rest,

with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;

or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.

There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

There the prisoners are at ease together. They don’t hear the voice of the taskmaster.

The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.

“Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,

who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.

For the thing which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid of comes to me.

I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes.”