^{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.

^{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!