After this Iyyov opened his mouth, and cursed his day.

After that Iyyov opened his mouth and cursed his day [(the day of his birth)].

And Iyyov spoke, and said,

Iyyov raised his voice and said:

Oh that the day had perished wherein I was born, and the night which said, There is a man child conceived.

Would that [the] day were lost on which I was to be born, and the night [when it was] said: "A man [(my father)] has caused [(my mother)] to conceive."

Let that day be darkness; let not God inquire after it from above, nor let the light shine upon it.

Let that day [(every year)] be darkness. Let G d on high not be solicitous of it [(for good)], and let no light shine upon it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

Let it be sullied by darkness and the shadow of death; let it be shrouded in darkness; let the demons of day confound it.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

Let that night be seized by thick darkness; let it not rejoice with the days of the year; let it not enter into the reckoning of months.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful cry be heard in it.

Let that night be unfrequented; let no rejoicing enter into it.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to arouse livyatan.

Let the cursers of [their] day curse it, those destined to be childless [in] their union.

Let the stars of its dusk be dark; let it look for light, but have none; and let it not see the eyelids of the morn:

Let the stars of its night be darkened; let it hope for light and not find it; and let it not see the first light of day.

because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb nor hide trouble from my eyes.

For He did not close the walls of my stomach [i.e., the womb] and hide toil from my eyes.

Why did I not die from the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?

Why did I not die when out of the womb? Why [did I] not perish when leaving the stomach?

Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

Why did [my mother's] knees receive me, and why [her] breasts, that I should suck?

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

For now I could have been lying still [(in the grave)], sleeping and at rest.

with kings and counsellors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves;

With kings and counselors of the earth, who build up waste places for their names' sake.

or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

Or with princes possessed of gold, who fill their houses with silver.

or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.

Or [why could I not have been] a huddled-up abortion, like fetuses who never saw the light?

There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.

There [(in the grave)] the wicked cease from wrath, and there the weary rest.

There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the slave driver.

The prisoners there are all at peace; they do not hear the oppressor's voice.

The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

[(True and enduring)] smallness or greatness are [recognized] there [(and not in this world)], and the slave is free of his master.

Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul;

Why should light be given to the [sorrow-] burdened, and life to the bitter in soul,

who long for death, but it does not come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

who hope for death, but find it not, though they dig for it more than for treasure,

who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find a grave?

who [would] regale in joy, the joy of finding a grave

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and from whom God has screened himself?

for the man [(i.e., himself)] whose way [(i.e., all the good that he has done)] is hidden [from Him] and who has been fenced off by G d?

For my sighing comes before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

For my groaning comes before my bread and my cries stream forth like water.

For the thing which I had feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come to me.

For what I feared [(for my children, viz. 1:5)] has come upon me; what I dreaded has befallen me.

I had no repose, nor had I rest, nor was I quiet; yet trouble came.

I was never at peace; I was never still; I was never at rest — and the terror came!