Job Laments His Birth 1 UST At the end of those seven days, Job started speaking. He cursed the day when he was born. BSB BSB: After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
2 UST He said, BSB BSB: And this is what he said:
3 UST “I wish that the day of my birth had never existed!{ I feel the same way about} the night when my mother conceived me. BSB BSB: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
4 UST I wish that there would only be darkness on that day{ so that it would not even be a day}. I wish that God in heaven would not care about that day and so not make the sun shine on it. BSB BSB: If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.
5 UST I wish that that day were only darkness, with clouds blocking out the sunlight and many other things also making it very dark. BSB BSB: May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.
6 UST I wish that the moon and stars would not shine on the night when my mother conceived me. I wish that the day of my birth was not part of any month. Indeed, I wish that it was not a day in the year at all. BSB BSB: If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year; may it never be entered in any of the months.
7 UST I mean it— I wish that no mother would ever again bear a child on that date. I wish that no one would ever again rejoice{ over a child’ s birth} on that date. BSB BSB: Behold, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it.
8 UST There are magicians who know how to agitate the chaos monster. I want them to curse the day of my birth! BSB BSB: May it be cursed by those who curse the day—those prepared to rouse Leviathan.
9 UST I wish that the stars that shone early in the morning of that day would never shine again. I wish that it would never become light on that day. I wish that not even the first rays of the rising sun would appear on that day. BSB BSB: May its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn.
10 UST I wish that day did not exist, because my mother gave birth to me on that day, and because I became alive, I have now experienced all these terrible things. BSB BSB: For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
11 UST I wish that I had died right after my mother gave birth to me! I wish I had stopped breathing after being alive for only a short time! BSB BSB: Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
12 UST I wish that my mother had never held me on her lap and nursed me! BSB BSB: Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?
13 UST If I had died shortly after my mother gave birth to me, I would now be resting peacefully among all the other people who had died. BSB BSB: For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
14 UST { I would be resting} with great kings and their advisers. They built beautiful tombs on spacious grounds{ and are now resting in them}. BSB BSB: with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins,
15 UST Or{ I would be resting} with princes who owned great quantities of gold and silver. BSB BSB: or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.
16 UST I wish that I had died in my mother’ s womb and never lived for even a moment. Then people would have buried me privately. BSB BSB: Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
17 UST After wicked people die, they do not cause any more trouble. That allows the people whom they were oppressing to rest. BSB BSB: There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.
18 UST Those who were prisoners all rest peacefully{ after they die}. They no longer have slave drivers ordering them around. BSB BSB: The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 UST Everyone, whether rich or poor, goes to the realm of the dead. Those who were slaves no longer have to obey their masters. BSB BSB: Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
20 UST God should not allow those who are suffering greatly like me to continue to remain alive! God should not allow those who are very miserable to live! BSB BSB: Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
21 UST They long to die, but they do not die. They desire to die more than people desire to find buried treasure. BSB BSB: who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,
22 UST { God should not give life in the first place} to people who are very happy when they finally die! BSB BSB: who rejoice and greatly exult when they reach the grave?
23 UST God should not give life to people if he is going to keep them from knowing what to do or from understanding what is really happening to them! BSB BSB: Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
24 UST I am wishing that I were dead because now I cry so much that I cannot eat. I just keep groaning loudly. BSB BSB: I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.
25 UST There were things that I always worried might happen to me. Those things have now happened! BSB BSB: For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me.
26 UST I really have no peace of mind at all. My troubles keep disturbing me.” BSB BSB: I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.