Job 3

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day,	1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
2 and this is what he said:	2 Job spoke out and said:
3 May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”	3 Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, "The child is a boy!"
4 May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it.	4 May that day be darkness: let not God above call for it, nor light shine upon it!
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness.	5 May darkness and gloom claim it, clouds settle upon it, the blackness of night affright it!
6 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.	6 May obscurity seize that day; let it not occur among the days of the year, nor enter into the count of the months!
7 May that night be alone and unworthy of praise.	7 May that night be barren; let no joyful outcry greet it!
8 May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan.	8 Let them curse it who curse the sea, the appointed disturbers of Leviathan!
9 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.	9 May the stars of its twilight be darkened; may it look for daylight, but have none, nor gaze on the eyes of the dawn,
10 For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes.	10 Because it kept not shut the doors of the womb to shield my eyes from trouble!
11 Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish?	11 Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?	12 Wherefore did the knees receive me? or why did I suck at the breasts?
13 For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep	13 For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest
14 with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes,	14 With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins
15 either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver,	15 Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver.
16 or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light.	16 Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light?
17 There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest.	17 There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.
18 And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff.	18 There the captives are at ease together, and hear not the voice of the slave driver.
19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.	19 Small and great are there the same, and the servant is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul,	20 Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit?
21 who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure	21 They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures,
22 and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave,	22 Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave:
23 to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness?	23 Men whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!
24 Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl,	24 For sighing comes more readily to me than food, and my groans well forth like water.
25 for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me.	25 For what I fear overtakes me, and what I shrink from comes upon me.
26 Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.	26 I have no peace nor ease; I have no rest, for trouble comes!