The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
King James Version KJV
1 At length, Iyov broke the silence and cursed the day of his [birth].
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After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 Iyov said,
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And Job spake, and said,
3 "Perish the day I was born and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.'
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Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 May that day be darkness, may God on high not seek it, may no light shine on it,
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Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
5 may gloom dark as death defile it, may clouds settle on it, may it be terrified by its own blackness.
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Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 "As for that night, may thick darkness seize it, may it not be joined to the days of the year, may it not be numbered among the months;
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As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
7 may that night be desolate, may no cry of joy be heard in it;
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Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
8 may those who curse days curse it, those who[se curses] could rouse Livyatan;
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Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.
9 may the stars of its twilight be dark, may it look for light but get none, may it never see the shimmer of dawn
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Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 because it didn't shut the doors of the womb I was in and shield my eyes from trouble.
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Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
11 "If I had been stillborn, if I had died at birth,
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Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
12 had there been no knees to receive me or breasts for me to suck.
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Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?
13 Then I would be lying still and in peace, I would have slept and been at rest,
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For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 along with kings and their earthly advisers, who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
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With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;
15 or with princes who had [plenty of] gold, who filled their houses with silver.
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Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
16 Or I could have been like a hidden, miscarried child that never saw light.
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Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
17 "There the wicked cease their raging, there the weary are at rest,
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There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
18 prisoners live at peace together without hearing a taskmaster's yells.
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There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 Great and small alike are there, and the slave is free of his master.
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The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
20 "So why must light be given to the miserable and life to the bitter in spirit?
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Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
21 They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure;
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Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy.
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Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly, whom God shuts in on every side?
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Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?
24 "My sighing serves in place of my food, and my groans pour out in a torrent;
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For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
25 for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me.
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For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I have no peace, no quiet, no rest; and anguish keeps coming."
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I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The King James Version is in the public domain.