Job 3

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.	1 In the end it was Job who broke the silence and cursed the day of his birth.
2 Job spoke out and said:	2 This is what he said:
3 Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, "The child is a boy!"	3 Perish the day on which I was born and the night that told of a boy conceived.
4 May that day be darkness: let not God above call for it, nor light shine upon it!	4 May that day be darkness, may God on high have no thought for it, may no light shine on it.
5 May darkness and gloom claim it, clouds settle upon it, the blackness of night affright it!	5 May murk and shadow dark as death claim it for their own, clouds hang over it, eclipse swoop down onit.
6 May obscurity seize that day; let it not occur among the days of the year, nor enter into the count of the months!	6 See! Let obscurity seize on it, from the days of the year let it be excluded, into the reckoning of themonths not find its way.
7 May that night be barren; let no joyful outcry greet it!	7 And may that night be sterile, devoid of any cries of joy!
8 Let them curse it who curse the sea, the appointed disturbers of Leviathan!	8 Let it be cursed by those who curse certain days and are ready to rouse Leviathan.
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,	9 Dark be the stars of its morning, let it wait in vain for light and never see the opening eyes of dawn.
10 Because it kept not shut the doors of the womb to shield my eyes from trouble!	10 Since it would not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide sorrow from my eyes.
11 Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?	11 Why was I not stil -born, or why did I not perish as I left the womb?
12 Wherefore did the knees receive me? or why did I suck at the breasts?	12 Why were there knees to receive me, breasts for me to suck?
13 For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest	13 Now I should be lying in peace, wrapped in a restful slumber,
14 With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins	14 with the kings and high viziers of earth who have built their dwel ings in desolate places,
15 Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver.	15 or with princes who have quantities of gold and silver cramming their tombs;
16 Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light?	16 or, put away like an abortive child, I should not have existed, like little ones that never see the light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.	17 Down there, the wicked bustle no more, there the weary rest.
18 There the captives are at ease together, and hear not the voice of the slave driver.	18 Prisoners, al left in peace, hear no more the shouts of the oppressor.
19 Small and great are there the same, and the servant is free from his master.	19 High and low are there together, and the slave is free of his master.
20 Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit?	20 Why give light to a man of grief? Why give life to those bitter of heart,
21 They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures,	21 who long for a death that never comes, and hunt for it more than for buried treasure?
22 Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave:	22 They would be glad to see the grave-mound and shout with joy if they reached the tomb.
23 Men whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!	23 Why give light to one who does not see his way, whom God shuts in al alone?
24 For sighing comes more readily to me than food, and my groans well forth like water.	24 My only food is sighs, and my groans pour out like water.
25 For what I fear overtakes me, and what I shrink from comes upon me.	25 Whatever I fear comes true, whatever I dread befal s me.
26 I have no peace nor ease; I have no rest, for trouble comes!	26 For me, there is no calm, no peace; my torments banish rest.