3:1 After this Job opened his mouth ²  and cursed ³  the day he was born. ⁴  3:2 Job spoke up ⁵  and said:

3:3 “Let the day on which ⁶  I was born ⁷  perish,

and the night that said, ⁸ 

‘A man ⁹  has been conceived!’ ¹⁰ 

3:4 That day ¹¹  – let it be darkness; ¹² 

let not God on high regard ¹³  it,

nor let light shine ¹⁴  on it!

3:5 Let darkness and the deepest

shadow ¹⁵  claim it; ¹⁶ 

let a cloud settle on it;

let whatever blackens the day ¹⁷  terrify it!

3:6 That night – let darkness seize ¹⁸  it;

let it not be included ¹⁹  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 joy ²³  penetrate ²⁴  it!

3:8 Let those who curse the day ²⁵  curse it ²⁶  –

those who are prepared to rouse ²⁷  Leviathan. ²⁸ 

3:9 Let its morning stars ²⁹  be darkened;

let it wait ³⁰  for daylight but find none, ³¹ 

nor let it see the first rays ³²  of dawn,

3:10 because it ³³  did not shut the doors ³⁴  of my mother’s womb on me, ³⁵ 

nor did it hide trouble ³⁶  from my eyes!

3:11 “Why did I not ³⁸  die ³⁹  at birth, ⁴⁰ 

and why did I not expire

as ⁴¹  I came out of the womb?

3:12 Why did the knees welcome me, ⁴² 

and why were there ⁴³  two breasts ⁴⁴ 

that I might nurse at them? ⁴⁵ 

3:13 For now ⁴⁶  I would be lying down

and ⁴⁷  would be quiet, ⁴⁸ 

I would be asleep and then at peace ⁴⁹ 

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 palaces ⁵²  with silver.

3:16 Or why ⁵³  was ⁵⁴  I not buried ⁵⁵ 

like a stillborn infant, ⁵⁶ 

like infants ⁵⁷  who have never seen the light? ⁵⁸ 

3:17 There ⁵⁹  the wicked ⁶⁰  cease ⁶¹  from turmoil, ⁶² 

and there the weary ⁶³  are at rest.

3:18 There ⁶⁴  the prisoners ⁶⁵  relax ⁶⁶  together; ⁶⁷ 

they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ⁶⁸ 

3:19 Small and great are ⁶⁹  there,

and the slave is free ⁷⁰  from his master. ⁷¹