^{1 Ref} After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

^{2 Ref} And Job answered and said:

^{3 Ref} Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.

^{4 Ref} Let that day be darkness; Let not God from above seek for it, Neither let the light shine upon it.

^{5 Ref} Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.

⁶ As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it: Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not come into the number of the months.

^{7 Ref} Lo, let that night be barren; Let no joyful voice come therein.

^{8 Ref} Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

^{9 Ref} Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

^{10 Ref} Because it shut not up the doors of my `mother's' womb, Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.

^{11 Ref} Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?

^{12 Ref} Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breast, that I should suck?

^{13 Ref} For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest,

^{14 Ref} With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up waste places for themselves;

^{15 Ref} Or with princes that had gold, Who filled their houses with silver:

^{16 Ref} Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, As infants that never saw light.

^{17 Ref} There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest.

^{18 Ref} There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

^{19 Ref} The small and the great are there: And the servant is free from his master.

^{20 Ref} Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, And life unto the bitter in soul;

^{21 Ref} Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

²² Who rejoice exceedingly, And are glad, when they can find the grave?

^{23 Ref} `Why is light given' to a man whose way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in?

^{24 Ref} For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water.

^{25 Ref} For the thing which I fear cometh upon me, And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

^{26 Ref} I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh.

^{1 Ref} Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,

^{2 Ref} Job made answer and said,

^{3 Ref} Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

^{4 Ref} That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

^{5 Ref} Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

⁶ That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

^{7 Ref} As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

^{8 Ref} Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

^{9 Ref} Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

^{10 Ref} Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

^{11 Ref} Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

^{12 Ref} Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

^{13 Ref} For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

^{14 Ref} With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

^{15 Ref} Or with rulers who had gold, and whose houses were full of silver;

^{16 Ref} Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

^{17 Ref} There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

^{18 Ref} There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

^{19 Ref} The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

^{20 Ref} Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

^{21 Ref} To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

²² Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

^{23 Ref} To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

^{24 Ref} In place of my food I have grief, and cries of sorrow come from me like water.

^{25 Ref} For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

^{26 Ref} I have no peace, no quiet, and no rest; nothing but pain comes on me.