¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. ²And Job began to speak and said,

³“May the day on which I was born perish,

And the night when it was said,

‘A man has been fathered.’

⁴May that day be darkness,

May God not care for it above,

And may no light shine on it.

⁵May darkness and the shadow of death stain it,

May a cloud rest on it;

Let daytime darkenings overwhelm it.

⁶May gloom take that night,

May it not be included in the days of the year;

May it not enter into the number of the months.

⁷Behold, may that night be barren;

May no rejoicing enter into it.

⁸May those who curse a day denounce it

– Those who are prepared to arouse Leviathan.

⁹May its twilight stars be darkened;

May it wait for light and there not be any,

And may it not see the aura of dawn.

¹⁰For it did not shut the gates of my mother's womb,

Nor did it hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹Why did I not die in the womb?

Why did I not come out of the belly and expire?

¹²Why did knees prepare for me?

And why were there breasts for me to suck?

¹³For then I would now be lying down and be undisturbed;

For then I would be asleep and at rest,

¹⁴With kings and counsellors of the earth

Who built monuments now ruins for themselves,

¹⁵Or with princes who had gold,

Who filled their houses with silver,

¹⁶Or as a miscarriage that needs to be buried,

So that I would not now exist,

Like infants who never saw light.

¹⁷There, the wicked cease raging,

And there, those wearied by effort find rest,

¹⁸Together with prisoners who are at ease;

They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹Whether small or great, there he is,

And the servant, free from his master.

²⁰Why does he give light to the wretched,

And life to those who are melancholic?

²¹– Who are waiting for death

But it does not come?

– Who search for it more earnestly than for hidden treasures?

²²– Who are happy, exultant even,

As they rejoice when they find the grave?

²³Why does he give light to a man whose way is hidden,

Around whom God has put a hedge?

²⁴For my sighing comes to the forefront more than my bread,

And my groaning is uttered voluminously.

²⁵For the thing which I greatly feared has befallen me,

And that which I was afraid of has come upon me.

²⁶I am not in comfort

And not in quietude

And not at rest,

For trouble has come.”