Job 3:1-4:21

Job Speaks 1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

2He said:

3“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

4That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it.

5May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.

6That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.

7May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

8May those who curse days Or curse the sea curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

9May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

10for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

11“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?

12Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?

13For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

14with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

15with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

16Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

17There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

18Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

19The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

21to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

22who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?

23Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

24For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.

25What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. 26I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Eliphaz 1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?

3Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.

4Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.

5But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

6Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

7“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?

8As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.

9At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.

10The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

11The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.

13Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,

14fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.

15A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.

16It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:

17‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?

18If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,

19how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!

20Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. 21Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’