May that day perish when I was born
1At length it was Job who spoke, cursing the day of his birth. 2This is what he said:
3Cursed be the day I was born,
and the night which whispered:
A boy has been conceived.
4May that day be dark,
may God on high ignore it.
May no light shine upon it.
5May the shadow of death claim it as its own.
May a cloud settle over it;
may blackness obstruct its light.
6Let darkness swallow that night
let it not add to the rest of the year
let it not be included in the month.
7That night – oh, let it be barren,
untouched by shouts of joy.
8Let it be cursed by those who hate the light,
sorcerers who call on the Devil.
9Let its morning stars no longer shine;
let it wait for light in vain
and never see the first rays of dawn,
10since it did not close the womb
to keep my eyes from seeing doom.
11Why didn’t I die at birth,
or come from the womb without breath?
12Why the knees that received me,
why the breasts that suckled me?
13For then I should have lain down
asleep and been at rest
14with kings and rulers of the earth
who built for themselves lonely tombs;
15or with princes who had gold to spare
and houses stuffed with silver.
16Why was I not stillborn,
like others who did not see the light of morn?
17There the trouble of the wicked ceases,
there the weary find repose.
18There the prisoners are at ease;
they no longer hear the taskmaster’s voice.
19Great and small fare equally there,
where the slave is free from his master.
20Why is light given to the miserable,
and life to the embittered?
21To those who long for death
more than for hidden treasure?
22They rejoice at the sight of their end,
they are happy upon reaching the grave.
23Why give light to a man whose path has vanished,
whose ways God blocks at every side?
24Instead of bread I feed on sighs.
My groans are like water poured out.
25For what I fear has come upon me,
what I dread has befallen me.
26I find no rest, I find no ease;
only turmoil, nothing of peace!
