[3:1] Finally Job broke the silence and cursed the day on which he had been born.
Job
put a curse on the night when I was conceived!
[3:4] Turn that day into darkness, God. Never again remember that day; never again let light shine on it.
[3:5] Make it a day of gloom and thick darkness; cover it with clouds, and blot out the sun.
[3:6] Blot that night out of the year, and never let it be counted again;
[3:7] make it a barren, joyless night.
[3:8] Tell the sorcerers to curse that day, those who know how to control Leviathan.
[3:9] Keep the morning star from shining; give that night no hope of dawn.
[3:10] Curse that night for letting me be born, for exposing me to trouble and grief.
[3:11] I wish I had died in my mother's womb or died the moment I was born.
[3:12] Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did she feed me at her breast?
[3:13] If I had died then, I would be at rest now,
[3:14] sleeping like the kings and rulers who rebuilt ancient palaces.
[3:15] Then I would be sleeping like princes who filled their houses with gold and silver,
[3:16] or sleeping like a stillborn child.
[3:17] In the grave wicked people stop their evil, and tired workers find rest at last.
[3:18] Even prisoners enjoy peace, free from shouts and harsh commands.
[3:19] Everyone is there, the famous and the unknown, and slaves at last are free.
[3:20] Why let people go on living in misery? Why give light to those in grief
[3:21] They wait for death, but it never comes; they prefer a grave to any treasure.
[3:22] They are not happy till they are dead and buried;
[3:23] God keeps their future hidden and hems them in on every side.
[3:24] Instead of eating, I mourn, and I can never stop groaning.
[3:25] Everything I fear and dread comes true.
[3:26] I have no peace, no rest, and my troubles never end.