Job 3

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