Job 3-4

Common English Bible

² Job said:
³ Perish the day I was born,
    the night someone said,
    “A boy has been conceived.”
⁴ That day—let it be darkness;
    may God above ignore it,
    and light not shine on it.
⁵ May deepest darkness claim it
    and a cloud linger over it;
    may all that darkens the day terrify it.
⁶ May gloom seize that night;
    may it not be counted in the days of a year;
    may it not appear in the months.
⁷ May that night be childless;
    may no happy singing come in it.
⁸ May those who curse the day curse it,
    those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
⁹ May its evening stars stay dark;
    may it wait in vain for light;
    may it not see dawn’s gleam,
¹⁰     because it didn’t close the doors of my mother’s womb,^[a]
    didn’t hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ Why didn’t I die at birth,
    come forth from the womb and die?
¹² Why did knees receive me
    and breasts let me nurse?
¹³ For now I would be lying down quietly;
    I’d sleep; rest would be mine
¹⁴         with kings and earth’s advisors,
        who rebuild ruins for themselves,
¹⁵         or with princes who have gold,
        who fill their houses with silver.
¹⁶ Or why wasn’t I like a buried miscarried infant,
    like babies who never see light?
¹⁷ There the wicked rage no more;
    there the weak rest.
¹⁸ Prisoners are entirely at ease;
    they don’t hear a boss’s voice.
¹⁹ Both small and great are there;
    a servant is free from his masters.
²⁰ Why is light given to the hard worker,
    life to those bitter of soul,
²¹     those waiting in vain for death,
        who search for it more than for treasure,
²²     who rejoice excitedly,
        who are thrilled when they find a grave?
²³ Why is light given^[b] to the person whose way is hidden,
    whom God has fenced in?
²⁴ My groans become my bread;
    my roars pour out like water.
²⁵ Because I was afraid of something awful,
    and it arrived;
    what I dreaded came to me.
²⁶ I had no ease, quiet, or rest,
    and trembling came.

² If one tries to answer you, will you be annoyed?
    But who can hold words back?
³ Look, you’ve instructed many
    and given strength to drooping hands.
⁴ Your words have raised up the falling;
    you’ve steadied failing knees.
⁵ But now it comes to you, and you are dismayed;
    it has struck you, and you are frightened.
⁶ Isn’t your religion the source of^[c] your confidence;
    the integrity of your conduct, the source of your hope?

⁷ Think! What innocent person has ever perished?
    When have those who do the right thing been destroyed?
⁸ As I’ve observed, those who plow sin
    and sow trouble will harvest it.
⁹ When God breathes deeply, they perish;
    by a breath of his nostril they are annihilated.
¹⁰ The roar of a lion and snarl of the king of beasts—
    yet the teeth of lions are shattered;
¹¹         the lion perishes without prey,
            and its cubs are scattered.

¹² But a word sneaked up on me;
    my ears caught a hint of it.
¹³ In profound thoughts, visions of night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,
¹⁴         fear and dread struck me;
            all of my bones shook.
¹⁵ A breeze swept by my face;
    the hair of my skin bristled.
¹⁶ It stopped. I didn’t recognize its visible form,
    although a figure was in front of my eyes.
Silence! Then I heard a voice:
¹⁷     “Can a human be more righteous than God,
        a person purer than their maker?”

¹⁸ If he doesn’t trust his servants
        and levels a charge against his messengers,
¹⁹     how much less those who dwell in houses of clay,
        whose foundations are in dust,
        and who are crushed like a moth?
²⁰ They are smashed between morning and evening;
    they perish forever without anyone knowing.
²¹ Isn’t their tent cord pulled up?
    They die without wisdom.^[d]