Study Desk

After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.

He said:

May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived."^(a)

If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.

May darkness and gloom^(b) reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May an eclipse of the sun^[a] terrify it.

If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear^[b] among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar.^[c]

Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout^(c) be heard in it.

Let those who curse certain days cast a spell^(d) on it, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.^(e)

May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking^[d] of dawn.

For that night did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes.

Why was I not stillborn; why didn't I die as I came from the womb?^(f)

Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse?^(g)

Now I would certainly be lying down in peace; I would be asleep.^(h) Then I would be at rest⁽ⁱ⁾

with the kings and counselors^(j) of the earth, who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses^(k) with silver.

Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,^(l) like infants who never see daylight?

There the wicked^(m) cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest.

The captives are completely at ease;⁽ⁿ⁾ they do not hear the voice of their oppressor.^(o)

Both small and great are there, and the slave is set free from his master.^(p)

Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to those whose existence is bitter,^(q)

who wait for death,^(r) but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

who are filled with much joy and are glad when they reach the grave?^(s)

Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,^(t) whom God has hedged in?

I sigh when food^(u) is put before me,^[e] and my groans pour out like water.^(v)

For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.^(w)

I cannot relax or be still; I have no rest,^(x) for trouble comes.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking?

Indeed, you have instructed many and have strengthened^(a) weak hands.

Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling and braced the knees that were buckling.^(b)

But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes^(c) you, and you are dismayed.

Isn't your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life^[a] your hope?^(d)

Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed?^(e)

In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble^(f) reap the same.^(g)

They perish at a single blast^(h) from God and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.⁽ⁱ⁾

The lion may roar and the fierce lion^(j) growl, but the fangs of young lions are broken.^(k)

The strong lion dies if it catches no prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.^(l)

A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it.^(m)

Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,⁽ⁿ⁾ when deep sleep^(o) descends on men,

fear and trembling came over me^(p) and made all my bones shake.

A wind^[b] passed by me, and I shuddered with fear.^[c]

A figure stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a quiet voice:

"Can a person be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?"^(q)

If God puts no trust in His servants and He charges His angels with foolishness,^[d](r)

how much more those who dwell in clay houses,^(s) whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth!

They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices.^(t)

Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom.^(u)