| 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 sleep |
| 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 treasure |
| 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. |
