^{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} After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.

^{2 Ref} And Job answereth and saith: --

^{3 Ref} Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: `A man-child hath been conceived.'

^{4 Ref} That day -- let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.

^{5 Ref} Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.

⁶ That night -- let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come.

^{7 Ref} Lo! that night -- let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it.

^{8 Ref} Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.

^{9 Ref} Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.

^{10 Ref} Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.

^{11 Ref} Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

^{12 Ref} Wherefore have knees been before me? And what `are' breasts, that I suck?

^{13 Ref} For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept -- then there is rest to me,

^{14 Ref} With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.

^{15 Ref} Or with princes -- they have gold, They are filling their houses `with' silver.

^{16 Ref} (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

^{17 Ref} There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.

^{18 Ref} Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,

^{19 Ref} Small and great `are' there the same. And a servant `is' free from his lord.

^{20 Ref} Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?

^{21 Ref} Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

²² Who are glad -- unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.

^{23 Ref} To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?

^{24 Ref} For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters `are' my roarings.

^{25 Ref} For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.

^{26 Ref} I was not safe -- nor was I quiet -- Nor was I at rest -- and trouble cometh!