1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And this is what he said: 3 “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ 4 If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it. 5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it. 6 If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year; may it never be entered in any of the months. 7 Behold, may that night be barren; may no joyful voice come into it. 8 May it be cursed by those who curse the day — those prepared to rouse Leviathan. 9 May its morning stars grow dark; may it wait in vain for daylight; may it not see the breaking of dawn. 10 For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes. 11 Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? 12 Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed? 13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest 14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves cities now in ruins, 15 or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight? 17 There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest. 18 The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. 19 Both small and great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. 20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul, 21 who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure, 22 who rejoice and greatly exult when they can find the grave? 23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 24 I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water. 25 For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has befallen me. 26 I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.”
Job 3 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 20:14–15; Psalm 106:33; Psalm 39:2–3; Job 2:9–10; Job 3:3
- 3 Jeremiah 20:14–18; Jeremiah 15:10; Job 10:18–19
- 4 Matthew 27:45; Amos 5:18; Revelation 16:10; Deuteronomy 11:12; Joel 2:2
- 5 Job 10:21–22; Job 28:3; Jeremiah 2:6; Psalm 23:4; Psalm 107:14
- 7 Isaiah 13:20–22; Jeremiah 7:34; Revelation 18:22–23; Isaiah 24:8
- 8 Job 41:1; Job 41:10; 2 Chronicles 35:25; Jeremiah 9:17–18; Job 41:25
- 9 Job 41:18; Jeremiah 8:15; Jeremiah 13:16; Job 30:26
- 10 Ecclesiastes 6:3–5; Genesis 20:18; Jeremiah 20:17; 1 Samuel 1:5; Genesis 29:31
- 11 Isaiah 46:3; Job 10:18–19; Hosea 9:14; Jeremiah 15:10; Psalm 139:13–16
- 12 Genesis 30:3; Isaiah 66:12; Genesis 50:23; Ezekiel 16:4–5
- 13 Ecclesiastes 9:10; Job 14:10–12; Job 21:13; Job 7:21; Ecclesiastes 6:3–5
- 14 Job 15:28; Psalm 89:48; Isaiah 14:10–16; Psalm 49:14; Psalm 49:6–10
- 15 1 Kings 10:27; Job 22:25; Zephaniah 1:18; Numbers 22:18; Job 27:16–17
- 16 Psalm 58:8; Ecclesiastes 6:3; 1 Corinthians 15:8
- 17 Revelation 14:13; Job 17:16; Isaiah 57:1–2; Job 14:13; Hebrews 4:11
- 18 Job 39:7; Exodus 5:15–19; Judges 4:3; Exodus 5:6–8; Isaiah 14:3–4
- 19 Ecclesiastes 8:8; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Job 30:23; Psalm 49:2; Luke 16:22–23
- 20 Jeremiah 20:18; Job 7:15–16; 1 Samuel 1:10; Proverbs 31:6; Job 6:9
- 21 Revelation 9:6; Proverbs 2:4; Numbers 11:15; Jonah 4:8; 1 Kings 19:4
- 23 Job 19:8; Lamentations 3:7; Isaiah 40:27; Job 12:14; Lamentations 3:9
- 24 Psalm 102:9; Psalm 42:3–4; Psalm 80:5; Psalm 38:8; Job 33:20
- 25 Job 1:5; Job 30:15; Job 31:23
- 26 Job 7:14; Job 27:9; Psalm 143:11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And this he declared, when he said, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me; and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." And again, "But I wept for every helpless man, and groaned when I saw a man in distress." So because of this, nothing of what happened confounded him, none of those …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)