Afterward Job
opened
his mouth
and cursed
1the day
of his birth.
And Job 1said
,
" aLet the day perish
on which I was to be born
, And the night
which said
, `A 1boy
is conceived
.'
"May that day be darkness
; Let not God
above
care
for it, Nor
light
shine
on it.
"Let adarkness and black
gloom
claim
it; Let a cloud
settle
on it; Let the blackness
of the day
terrify
it.
"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
.
"Behold, let that night
be barren
; Let no
joyful
shout
enter
it.
"Let those curse it who curse
the day
, Who are 1prepared
to arouse
Leviathan
.
"Let the stars of its twilight
be darkened
; Let it wait
for light
but have
none
, And let it not see
the 1breaking
dawn
;
Because it did not shut
the opening
of my mother's womb
, Or hide
trouble
from my eyes
.
" aWhy did I not die
1at birth
, Come
forth
from the womb
and expire
?
"Why did the knees
receive
me, And why
the breasts
, that I should suck
?
"For now I awould have lain
down
and been
quiet
; I would have slept
then
, I would have been
at rest
,
With akings and with bcounselors
of the earth
, Who rebuilt
cruins
for themselves;
Or with aprinces
bwho had gold
, Who were filling
their houses
with silver
.
"Or like a miscarriage
which is 1discarded
, I would not be, As infants
that never
saw
light
.
"There the wicked
cease
from raging
, And there
the 1weary
are at arest
.
"The prisoners are at ease
together
; They do not hear
the voice
of the taskmaster
.
"The small and the great
are there
, And the slave
is free
from his master
.
"Why is alight
given
to him who
suffers
, And life
to the bitter
of soul
,
Who 1 along for death
, but there
is none
, And dig
for it more
than
for bhidden
treasures
,
Who rejoice greatly
, And exult
when
they find
the grave
?
"Why is light given to a man awhose
way
is hidden
, And whom bGod
has hedged
in?
"For amy groaning comes
at the sight
of my food
, And bmy cries
pour
out like water
.
"For 1 awhat I fear
comes
upon me, And what
I dread
befalls
me.
"I aam not at ease, nor
am I quiet
, And I am not at rest
, but turmoil
comes
."