Job 3.4
New International Version

Dialogue entre Job et ses amis

Intervention n° 1 de Job

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
² He said:

³ “May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

⁴ That day — may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.

⁵ May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.

⁶ That night — may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.

⁷ May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.

⁸ May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹ May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,

¹⁰ for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?

¹² Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?

¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴ with kings and rulers of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

¹⁵ with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹ to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²² who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³ Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.

²⁵ What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”