1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day 2 and this is what he said 3 May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, "A man has been conceived. 4 May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it 5 Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness 6 Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months 7 May that night be alone and unworthy of praise 8 May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan 9 Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East 10 For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes 11 Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish 12 Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts 13 For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my slee 14 with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes 15 either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver 16 or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light 17 There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest 18 And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff 19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master 20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul 21 who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasur 22 and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave 23 to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness 24 Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl 25 for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me 26 Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me
