Job 3:7-17

7 Let that night be childless. Let it have no joy.

8 Let those who are experts at cursing— whose cursing could rouse Leviathan — curse that day.

9 Let its morning stars remain dark. Let it hope for light, but in vain; may it never see the morning light.

10 Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble.

11 “Why wasn’t I born dead? Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

12 Why was I laid on my mother’s lap? Why did she nurse me at her breasts?

13 Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace. I would be asleep and at rest.

14 I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers, whose great buildings now lie in ruins.

15 I would rest with princes, rich in gold, whose palaces were filled with silver.

16 Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child, like a baby who never lives to see the light?

17 For in death the wicked cause no trouble, and the weary are at rest.

Job 3:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 3

In this chapter we have an account of Job's cursing the day of his birth, and the night of his conception; Job 3:1-3; first the day, to which he wishes the most extreme darkness, Job 3:4,5; then the night, to which he wishes the same and that it might be destitute of all joy, and be cursed by others as well as by himself, Job 3:6-9; The reasons follow, because it did not prevent his coming into the world, and because he died not on it, Job 3:10-12; which would, as he judged, have been an happiness to him; and this he illustrates by the still and quiet state of the dead, the company they are with, and their freedom from all trouble, oppression, and bondage, Job 3:13-19; but however, since it was otherwise with him, he desires his life might not be prolonged, and expostulates about the continuance of it, Job 3:20-23; and this by reason of his present troubles, which were many and great, and came upon him as he feared they would, and which had made him uneasy in his prosperity, Job 3:24-26.

Footnotes

• [a]. The identification of Leviathan is disputed, ranging from an earthly creature to a mythical sea monster in ancient literature.