Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born.
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Then Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate:
2 Job said:
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3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, "A boy has been conceived."
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"Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived!
4 That day—let it be darkness; may God above ignore it, and light not shine on it.
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Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books!
5 May deepest darkness claim it and a cloud linger over it; may all that darkens the day terrify it.
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May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night.
6 May gloom seize that night; may it not be counted in the days of a year; may it not appear in the months.
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And the night of my conception - the devil take it! Rip the date off the calendar, delete it from the almanac.
7 May that night be childless; may no happy singing come in it.
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Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness - no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!
8 May those who curse the day curse it, those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
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May those who are good at cursing curse that day. Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it.
9 May its evening stars stay dark; may it wait in vain for light; may it not see dawn's gleam,
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May its morning stars turn to black cinders, waiting for a daylight that never comes, never once seeing the first light of dawn.
10 because it didn't close the doors of my mother's womb, didn't hide trouble from my eyes.
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And why? Because it released me from my mother's womb into a life with so much trouble.
11 Why didn't I die at birth, come forth from the womb and die?
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"Why didn't I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last?
12 Why did knees receive me and breasts let me nurse?
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Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from?
13 For now I would be lying down quietly; I'd sleep; rest would be mine
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I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain,
14 with kings and earth's advisors, who rebuild ruins for themselves,
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In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins,
15 or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver.
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Or with princes resplendent in their gold and silver tombs.
16 Or why wasn't I like a buried miscarried infant, like babies who never see light?
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Why wasn't I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light,
17 There the wicked rage no more; there the weak rest.
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Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
18 Prisoners are entirely at ease; they don't hear a boss's voice.
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Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never again to wake up to the bark of the guards.
19 Both small and great are there; a servant is free from his masters.
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The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.
20 Why is light given to the hard worker, life to those bitter of soul,
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"Why does God bother giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive,
21 those waiting in vain for death, who search for it more than for treasure,
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Those who want in the worst way to die, and can't, who can't imagine anything better than death,
22 who rejoice excitedly, who are thrilled when they find a grave?
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Who count the day of their death and burial the happiest day of their life?
23 Why is light given to the person whose way is hidden, whom God has fenced in?
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What's the point of life when it doesn't make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?
24 My groans become my bread; my roars pour out like water.
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"Instead of bread I get groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish.
25 Because I was afraid of something awful, and it arrived; what I dreaded came to me.
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The worst of my fears has come true, what I've dreaded most has happened.
26 I had no ease, quiet, or rest, and trembling came.
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My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever - death has invaded life."
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.