3
Job Deplores His Birth
1After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
2And Job spoke, and said:
3“May⚓ the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
4May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5May darkness and ⚓the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
6As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
7Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
8May those curse it who curse the day,
Those ⚓who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
9May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the dawning of the day;
10Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
11“Why⚓ did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
12⚓Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who ⚓built ruins for themselves,
15Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16Or why was I not hidden ⚓like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
17There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the weary are at ⚓rest.
18There the prisoners rest together;
⚓They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.
20“Why⚓ is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the ⚓bitter of soul,
21Who ⚓long for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than ⚓hidden treasures;
22Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the ⚓grave?
23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
⚓And whom God has hedged in?
24For my sighing comes before I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
25For the thing I greatly ⚓feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”
3
約伯詛咒自己
1此後，約伯開口詛咒自己的生日⚓。
2約伯說：
3「願我生的那日滅沒，
說『懷了男胎』的那夜也滅沒。
4願那日變為黑暗，
願上帝不從上面尋找它，
願亮光不照於其上。
5願黑暗和死蔭索取那日，
願密雲停在其上，
願白天的昏暗⚓恐嚇它。
6願那夜被幽暗奪取，
不在一年的日子中喜樂，
也不列入月中的數目。
7看哪，願那夜沒有生育，
其間也沒有歡樂的聲音。
8願那些詛咒日子且能惹動力威亞探⚓的，
詛咒那夜。
9願那夜黎明的星宿變為黑暗，
盼亮卻不亮，
也不見晨曦破曉⚓；
10因它沒有把懷我胎的門關閉，
也沒有從我的眼中隱藏患難。
11「我為何不出母胎而死？
為何不出母腹就氣絕呢？
12為何有膝蓋接收我？
為何有奶哺養我呢？
13不然，我現在已躺臥安睡，
而且，早已長眠安息；
14與那些為自己重建荒涼之處，
地上的君王和謀士在一起；
15或與把銀子裝滿房屋，
擁有金子的王子在一起；
16我為何不像流產的胎兒被埋藏，
如同未見光的嬰孩？
17在那裏惡人止息攪擾，
在那裏困乏人得享安息，
18被囚的人同得安逸，
不再聽見監工的聲音。
19大的小的都在那裏，
奴僕脫離主人得自由。
20「遭受患難的人為何有光賜給他呢？
心中愁苦的人為何有生命賜給他呢？
21他們等死，卻不得死；
求死，勝於求隱藏的珍寶。
22他們尋見墳墓，
就歡喜快樂，極其高興。
23這人的道路遮隱，
上帝又四面圍困他。
24我吃飯前就發出嘆息，
我的唉哼湧出如水。
25因我所恐懼的臨到我，
我所懼怕的迎向我；
26我不得安逸，不得平靜，
也不得安息，卻有患難來到。」