Job 3
3
Job's First Speech
Blot Out the Day of My Birth
1 #
Jr 20.14-18; Si 23.14. Finally, Job cursed the day
of his birth
2by saying to God:
3Blot out the day of my birth
and the night when my parents
created a son.
4Forget about that day,
cover it with darkness,
5and send thick, gloomy shadows
to fill it with dread.
6Erase that night from the calendar
and conceal it with darkness.
7Don't let children be created
or joyful shouts be heard
ever again in that night.
8Let those with magic powers#3.8 those with magic powers: The Hebrew text has “those who can place a curse on the day and rouse up Leviathan,” which was some kind of sea monster. God's victory over this monster sometimes stood for God's power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of his enemies (see Isaiah 27.1). In Job 41.1, Leviathan is either a sea monster or a crocodile with almost supernatural powers.
place a curse on that day.
9Darken its morning stars
and remove all hope of light,
10because it let me be born
into a world of trouble.
Why Didn't I Die at Birth?
11Why didn't I die at birth?
12Why was I accepted#3.12 Why was I accepted: The Hebrew text has “Why were there knees to receive me,” which may refer either to Job's mother or to his father, who would have placed Job on his knees to show that he had accepted him as his child.
and allowed to nurse
at my mother's breast?
13Now I would be at peace
in the silent world below
14with kings and their advisors
whose palaces lie in ruins,
15and with rulers once rich
with silver and gold.
16I wish I had been born dead
and then buried, never to see
the light of day.
17In the world of the dead,
the wicked and the weary rest
without a worry.
* 18Everyone is there—
19where captives and slaves
are free at last.
Why Does God Let Me Live?
20Why does God let me live
when life is miserable
and so bitter?
21 #
Rev 9.6. I keep longing for death
more than I would seek
a valuable treasure.
22Nothing could make me happier
than to be in the grave.
23Why do I go on living
when God has me surrounded,
and I can't see the road?
24Moaning and groaning
are my food and drink,
25and my worst fears
have all come true.
26I have no peace or rest—
only troubles and worries.
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Job 3: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
