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3
1 At length Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job spake and said: 3 Perish the day in which I was born, and the night which said, “A man-child is conceived!” 4 Let that day be darkness; Let not God seek it from above; Yea, let not the light shine upon it! 5 Let darkness and the shadow of death redeem it; Let a cloud dwell upon it; Let whatever darkeneth the day terrify it! 6 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! 7 O let that night be unfruitful! Let there be in it no voice of joy; 8 Let them that curse the day curse it, Who are skilful to stir up the leviathan! 9 Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; Let it long for light, and have none; Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning! 10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, And hid not trouble from mine eyes. 11 Why died I not at my birth? Why did I not expire when I came forth from the womb? 12 Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts, that I might suck? 13 For now should I lie down and be quiet; I should sleep; then should I be at rest, 14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, Who built up for themselves—ruins! 15 Or with princes that had gold, And filled their houses with silver; 16 Or, as a hidden untimely birth, I had perished; As infants which never saw the light. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling; There the weary are at rest. 18 There the prisoners rest together; They hear not the voice of the oppressor. 19 The small and the great are there, And the servant is free from his master. 20 Why giveth He light to him that is in misery, And life to the bitter in soul, 21 Who long for death, and it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures; 22 Who rejoice exceedingly, Yea, exult, when they can find a grave? 23 Why is light given to a man from whom the way is hid, And whom God hath hedged in? 24 For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groans are poured out like water. 25 For that which I dread overtaketh me; That at which I shudder cometh upon me. 26 I have no peace, nor quiet, nor respite: Misery cometh upon me continually.

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