Job 3:15-25

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.

18 Even captives are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them.

19 Rich and poor are both there, and the slave is free from his master.

20 “Oh, why give light to those in misery, and life to those who are bitter?

21 They long for death, and it won’t come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.

22 They’re filled with joy when they finally die, and rejoice when they find the grave.

23 Why is life given to those with no future, those God has surrounded with difficulties?

24 I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water.

25 What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true.

Job 3:15-25 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.