[1] Then Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born.
[2] He said:
[3] “I wish the day I was born would be lost forever. I wish that night they said, 'It’s a boy!’ had never happened.
[4] I wish that day had stayed dark. I wish God would forget that day. I wish light had not shined on that day.
[5] I wish that day had stayed dark— as dark as death. I wish clouds would hide that day. I wish black clouds could scare away the light from the day I was born.
[6] Let the darkness keep that night. Leave that night off the calendar. Don’t put that night in any of the months.
[7] Don’t let that night produce anything. Let no happy shout be heard on that night.
[8] Some magicians are always wanting to wake Leviathan. So let them say their curses, and curse the day I was born.
[9] Let that day’s morning star be dark. Let that night wait for the morning, but may that light never come. Don’t let it see the first rays of sunlight.
[10] Why? Because that night didn’t stop me from being born. That night didn’t stop me from seeing these troubles.
[11] Why didn’t I die when I was born? Why didn’t I die at birth?
[12] Why did my mother hold me on her knees? Why did my mother’s breasts feed me?
[13] If I had died when I was born, I would be at peace now. I wish I were asleep and at rest
[14] with the kings and wise men who lived on earth in the past. Those men built places for themselves that are now destroyed and gone.
[15] I wish I were buried with those rulers that filled their graves with gold and silver!
[16] Why wasn’t I a child who died at birth and was buried in the ground? I wish I were like a baby that never saw the light of day.
[17] Bad people stop making trouble when they are in the grave. And people who are tired find rest in the grave.
[18] Even prisoners find relief in the grave; they don’t hear their guards yelling at them.
[19] All kinds of people are in the grave— important people and people who are not so important. Even the slave is freed from his master.
[20] “Why must a suffering person continue to live? Why give life to a person whose soul is bitter?
[21] That person wants to die, but death does not come. That sad person searches for death more than for hidden treasure.
[22] Those people would be happy to find their grave. They would rejoice to find their tomb.
[23] But God keeps their future a secret, and builds a wall around them to protect them.
[24] When it is time to eat, I only sigh with sadness, not with joy. My complaints pour out like water.
[25] I was afraid that something terrible might happen to me. And that is what happened! The things I feared most happened to me.
[26] I can’t calm down. I can’t relax. I can’t rest. I’m too upset!”