English / ERV
Job 3
Easy-to-Read Version, 2006
- 1Then Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
- 2He said,
- 3“I wish the day I was born would be lost forever. I wish the night they said, ‘It’s a boy!’ had never happened.
- 4I wish that day had remained dark. I wish God above had forgotten that day and not let any light shine on it.
- 5I wish that bitter day had remained as dark as death, covered with the darkest clouds.
- 6I wish the darkness had carried away that night, that it was left off the calendar and not included in any of the months.
- 7I wish that night had produced nothing and no happy shouts had been heard.
- 8Some magicians think they can wake Leviathan.[1] So let them say their curses and curse the day I was born.
- 9Let that day’s morning star be dark. Let that night wait for a morning that never comes. I wish it had never seen the first rays of sunlight.
- 10I wish it had stopped me from being born and kept me from seeing all these troubles.
- 11Why didn’t I die when I was born? Why didn’t I die as I came from my mother’s womb?
- 12Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did her breasts feed me?
- 13If I had died when I was born, I would be at peace now. I wish I were asleep and at rest
- 14with the kings and their advisors who built palaces that are now in ruins.
- 15I wish I were buried with rulers who filled their graves with gold and silver.