1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day, 2 and this is what he said: 3 May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.” 4 May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it. 5 Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness. 6 Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months. 7 May that night be alone and unworthy of praise. 8 May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan. 9 Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East. 10 For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes. 11 Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish? 12 Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts? 13 For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my sleep 14 with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes, 15 either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver, 16 or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light. 17 There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest. 18 And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff. 19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master. 20 Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul, 21 who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasure 22 and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave, 23 to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness? 24 Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl, 25 for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me. 26 Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me.
Job · Catholic Public Domain Version
Job 3 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
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)