New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
1
Then Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate:
2 Job said:
2
3 "Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, "A man-child is conceived.'
3
"Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived!
4 Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it.
4
Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books!
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
5
May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night.
6 That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.
6
And the night of my conception - the devil take it! Rip the date off the calendar, delete it from the almanac.
7 Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it.
7
Oh, turn that night into pure nothingness - no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!
8 Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan.
8
May those who are good at cursing curse that day. Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning—
9
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 did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hide trouble from my eyes.
10
And why? Because it released me from my mother's womb into a life with so much trouble.
11 "Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?
11
"Why didn't I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last?
12 Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck?
12
Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from?
13 Now I would be lying down and quiet; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
13
I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves,
14
In the company of kings and statesmen in their royal ruins,
15 or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver.
15
Or with princes resplendent in their gold and silver tombs.
16 Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light?
16
Why wasn't I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light,
17 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
17
Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
18
Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never again to wake up to the bark of the guards.
19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.
19
The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.
20 "Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
20
"Why does God bother giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive,
21 who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
21
Those who want in the worst way to die, and can't, who can't imagine anything better than death,
22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave?
22
Who count the day of their death and burial the happiest day of their life?
23 Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in?
23
What's the point of life when it doesn't make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?
24 For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.
24
"Instead of bread I get groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish.
25 Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
25
The worst of my fears has come true, what I've dreaded most has happened.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes."
26
My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever - death has invaded life."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.