1After this, Job finally spoke and cursed the day he was born.
2Job said:
3"May the day I was born disappear, and the night that announced, 'A boy is conceived.'
4May that day be dark. May God above not care about it, and may no light shine on it.
5May darkness and the shadow of death claim it. May a cloud settle over it. May everything that darkens the day fill it with terror.
6As for that night, may thick darkness seize it. May it not be a joyful day among the days of the year. May it not be counted among the months.
7Indeed, may that night be barren. May no joyful sound be heard in it.
8May those who curse the day, who are ready to awaken Leviathan, curse it.
9May the stars of its twilight be dark. May it long for light but find none; may it never see the first glimpse of morning,
10because it did not close the doors of my mother's womb, preventing this trouble from reaching my eyes."
11"Why didn't I die at birth? Why didn't I die as soon as I came from my mother's womb?
12Why were there knees to receive me? And breasts for me to nurse from?
13If I had, I would now be lying down in peace. I would be asleep and at rest,
14along with kings and advisors of the earth who built ruins for themselves;
15or with princes who possessed gold and filled their houses with silver:
16or like a baby born too soon, hidden away, like infants who never saw daylight.
17There, the wicked stop causing trouble. There, the weary are at peace.
18There, prisoners can relax together. They don't hear the voice of their oppressor.
19Both the unimportant and the important are there. The servant is free from his master.
20“Why is light given to those who are suffering, and life to those who are bitter in spirit,
21who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures?
22They are filled with joy and gladness when they can find a grave.
23Why is light given to a person whose path is hidden, whom God has fenced in?
24My sighing comes even before I eat. My groans pour out like water.
25For the very thing I fear comes upon me. What I am afraid of happens to me.
26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, nor do I have rest; instead, trouble comes.”