New King James Version

Darby Bible Translation

Job Deplores His Birth

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

1

Job Laments his Birth

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.

2

And Job [a]spoke, and said:

2

And Job answered and said,

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“May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’

3

Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived.

4

May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.

4

That day -- let it be darkness, let not +God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

5

May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.

5

Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it; let clouds dwell upon it; let darkeners of the day terrify it.

6

As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not [b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.

6

That night -- let gloom seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

7

Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!

7

Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful sound come therein;

8

May those curse it who curse the day,
Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.

8

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse Leviathan;

9

May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the [c]dawning of the day;

9

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it wait for light, and have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the dawn:

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Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

10

Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, and hid not trouble from mine eyes.

11

“Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not [d]perish when I came from the womb?

11

Wherefore did I not die from the womb, -- come forth from the belly and expire?

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Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

12

Why did the knees meet me? and wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?

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For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest

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For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

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With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built ruins for themselves,

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With kings and counsellors of the earth, who build desolate places for themselves,

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Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;

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Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver;

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Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?

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Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that have not seen the light.

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There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the [e]weary are at rest.

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There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the wearied are at rest.

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There the prisoners [f]rest together;
They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

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The prisoners together are at ease; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

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The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

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The small and great are there, and the bondman freed from his master.

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“Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,

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Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul,

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Who long[g] for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;

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Who long for death, and it [cometh] not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

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Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?

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Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? --

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Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?

23

To the man whose way is hidden, and whom +God hath hedged in?

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For my sighing comes before [h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.

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For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

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For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.

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For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.

26

I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

26

I was not in safety, neither had I quietness, neither was I at rest, and trouble came.

Parallel

New King James Version

Darby Bible Translation

Job 3

Job 3