| 1 | After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day. |
| 2 | And Job answereth and saith: -- |
| 3 | Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.' |
| 4 | That day—let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it. |
| 5 | Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days. |
| 6 | That night—let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come. |
| 7 | Lo! that night—let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it. |
| 8 | Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan. |
| 9 | Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn. |
| 10 | Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes. |
| 11 | Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp! |
| 12 | Wherefore have knees been before me? And what [are] breasts, that I suck? |
| 13 | For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept— then there is rest to me, |
| 14 | With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves. |
| 15 | Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses [with] silver. |
| 16 | (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants—they have not seen light.) |
| 17 | There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power. |
| 18 | Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor, |
| 19 | Small and great [are] there the same. And a servant [is] free from his lord. |
| 20 | Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul? |
| 21 | Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures. |
| 22 | Who are glad—unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave. |
| 23 | To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up? |
| 24 | For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters [are] my roarings. |
| 25 | For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me. |
| 26 | I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest— and trouble cometh! |