Job 3 Christian Standard Bible

Job’s Opening Speech

3 After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. ²He said:

³May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said,
“A boy is conceived.”^(A)
⁴If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.
⁵May darkness and gloom^(B) reclaim it,
and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
⁶If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear^[a] among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.^[b]
⁷Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout^(C) be heard in it.
⁸Let those who curse days
condemn^(D) it,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(E)
⁹May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking^[c] of dawn.
¹⁰For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?^(F)
¹²Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?^(G)
¹³Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.^(H)
Then I would be at rest^(I)
¹⁴with the kings and counselors^(J) of the earth,
who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,
¹⁵or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses^(K) with silver.
¹⁶Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,^(L)
like infants who never see daylight?
¹⁷There the wicked^(M) cease to make trouble,
and there the weary find rest.
¹⁸The captives are completely at rest;^(N)
they do not hear a taskmaster’s voice.^(O)
¹⁹Both small and great are there,
and the slave is set free from his master.^(P)

²⁰Why is light given to one burdened with grief,
and life to those whose existence is bitter,^(Q)
²¹who wait for death,^(R) but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,
²²who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?^(S)
²³Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,^(T)
whom God has hedged in?
²⁴I sigh when food^(U) is put before me,^[d]
and my groans pour out like water.^(V)
²⁵For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.^(W)
²⁶I cannot relax or be calm;
I have no rest,^(X) for turmoil has come.

Footnotes

3:6 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads rejoice
3:6 Lit or enter the number of months
3:9 Lit the eyelids
3:24 Or My sighing serves as my food

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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