1 A fterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

2 A nd Job said,

3 “ Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

4 “ May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it.

5 “ Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

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

7 “ Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it.

8 “ Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

9 “ Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn;

10 B ecause it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “ Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?

12 “ Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck?

13 “ For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

14 W ith kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

15 O r with princes who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.

16 “ Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light.

17 “ There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest.

18 “ The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

19 “ The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.

20 “ Why is light given to him who suffers, And life to the bitter of soul,

21 W ho long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22 W ho rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave?

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

24 “ For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water.

25 “ For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me.

26 “ I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”