[1] Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [2] And Job said, [3] "Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, 'A boy is conceived.' [4] "May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it. [5] "Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it. [6] "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. [7] "Behold, let that night be barren; Let no joyful shout enter it. [8] "Let those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan. [9] "Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it wait for light but have none, And let it not see the breaking dawn; [10] Because it did not shut the opening of my mother's womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes. [11] "Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire? [12] "Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I should suck? [13] "For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest, [14] With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves; [15] Or with princes who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver. [16] "Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants that never saw light. [17] "There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest. [18] "The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. [19] "The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master. [20] "Why is light given to him who suffers, And life to the bitter of soul, [21] Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures, [22] Who rejoice greatly, And exult when they find the grave? [23] "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in? [24] "For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water. [25] "For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me. [26] "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes."
