Job 3-4

Job 3

¹After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.

²And Job answereth and saith: --

³Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: ‘A man-child hath been conceived.'

⁴That day -- let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it.

⁵Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days.

⁶That night -- let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come.

⁷Lo! that night -- let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it.

⁸Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan.

⁹Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn.

¹⁰Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.

¹¹Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp!

¹²Wherefore have knees been before me? And what are breasts, that I suck?

¹³For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept -- then there is rest to me,

¹⁴With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves.

¹⁵Or with princes -- they have gold, They are filling their houses with silver.

¹⁶(Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants -- they have not seen light.)

¹⁷There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power.

¹⁸Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor,

¹⁹Small and great are there the same. And a servant is free from his lord.

²⁰Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul?

²¹Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures.

²²Who are glad -- unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave.

²³To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up?

²⁴For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters are my roarings.

²⁵For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me.

²⁶I was not safe -- nor was I quiet -- Nor was I at rest -- and trouble cometh!

Job 4

¹And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith: --

²Hath one tried a word with thee? -- Thou art weary! And to keep in words who is able?

³Lo, thou hast instructed many, And feeble hands thou makest strong.

⁴The stumbling one do thy words raise up, And bowing knees thou dost strengthen.

⁵But now, it cometh in unto thee, And thou art weary; It striketh unto thee, and thou art troubled.

⁶Is not thy reverence thy confidence? Thy hope -- the perfection of thy ways?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off?

⁸As I have seen -- ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!

⁹From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger consumed.

¹⁰The roaring of a lion, And the voice of a fierce lion, And teeth of young lions have been broken.

¹¹An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness do separate.

¹²And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it.

¹³In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,

¹⁴Fear hath met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear.

¹⁵And a spirit before my face doth pass, Stand up doth the hair of my flesh;

¹⁶It standeth, and I discern not its aspect, A similitude is over-against mine eyes, Silence! and a voice I hear:

¹⁷‘Is mortal man than God more righteous? Than his Maker is a man cleaner?

¹⁸Lo, in His servants He putteth no credence, Nor in His messengers setteth praise.'

¹⁹Also -- the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation is in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.)

²⁰From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, for ever they perish.

²¹Hath not their excellency been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!