1 Depois disto, passou Jó a falar e amaldiçoou o seu dia natalício. 2 Disse Jó:

3 Pereça o dia em que nasci

e a noite em que se disse:

Foi concebido um homem!

4 Converta-se aquele dia em trevas;

e Deus, lá de cima, não tenha cuidado dele,

nem resplandeça sobre ele a luz.

5 Reclamem-no as trevas e a sombra de morte;

habitem sobre ele nuvens;

espante-o tudo o que pode enegrecer o dia.

6 Aquela noite, que dela se apoderem densas trevas;

não se regozije ela entre os dias do ano,

não entre na conta dos meses.

7 Seja estéril aquela noite,

e dela sejam banidos os sons de júbilo.

8 Amaldiçoem-na aqueles que sabem amaldiçoar o dia

e sabem excitar o monstro marinho.

9 Escureçam-se as estrelas do crepúsculo matutino dessa noite;

que ela espere a luz, e a luz não venha;

que não veja as pálpebras dos olhos da alva,

10 pois não fechou as portas do ventre de minha mãe,

nem escondeu dos meus olhos o sofrimento.

11 Por que não morri eu na madre?

Por que não expirei ao sair dela?

12 Por que houve regaço que me acolhesse?

E por que peitos, para que eu mamasse?

13 Porque já agora repousaria tranquilo;

dormiria, e, então, haveria para mim descanso,

14 com os reis e conselheiros da terra

que para si edificaram mausoléus;

15 ou com os príncipes que tinham ouro

e encheram de prata as suas casas;

16 ou, como aborto oculto, eu não existiria,

como crianças que nunca viram a luz.

17 Ali, os maus cessam de perturbar,

e, ali, repousam os cansados.

18 Ali, os presos juntamente repousam

e não ouvem a voz do feitor.

19 Ali, está tanto o pequeno como o grande

e o servo livre de seu senhor.

20 Por que se concede luz ao miserável

e vida aos amargurados de ânimo,

21 que esperam a morte, e ela não vem?

Eles cavam em procura dela mais do que tesouros ocultos.

22 Eles se regozijariam por um túmulo

e exultariam se achassem a sepultura.

23 Por que se concede luz ao homem, cujo caminho é oculto,

e a quem Deus cercou de todos os lados?

24 Por que em vez do meu pão me vêm gemidos,

e os meus lamentos se derramam como água?

25 Aquilo que temo me sobrevém,

e o que receio me acontece.

26 Não tenho descanso, nem sossego, nem repouso,

e já me vem grande perturbação.

1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

2 And Job answered and said:

3 Let the day perish wherein I was born,

And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.

4 Let that day be darkness;

Let not God from above seek for it,

Neither let the light shine upon it.

5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own;

Let a cloud dwell upon it;

Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.

6 As for that night, let thick 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 Lo, let that night be barren;

Let no joyful voice come therein.

8 Let them curse it that curse the day,

Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark:

Let it look for light, but have none;

Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb,

Nor hid trouble from mine eyes.

11 Why died I not from the womb?

Why did I not give up the ghost when my mother bare me?

12 Why did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

13 For now should I have lain down and been quiet;

I should have slept; then had I been at rest,

14 With kings and counsellors of the earth,

Who built up waste places for themselves;

15 Or with princes that had gold,

Who filled their houses with silver:

16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,

As infants that never saw light.

17 There the wicked cease from troubling;

And there the weary are at rest.

18 There the prisoners are at ease together;

They hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

19 The small and the great are there:

And the servant is free from his master.

20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery,

And life unto the bitter in soul;

21 Who long for death, but it cometh not,

And dig for it more than for hid treasures;

22 Who rejoice exceedingly,

And are glad, when they can find the grave?

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,

And whom God hath hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh before I eat,

And my groanings are poured out like water.

25 For the thing which I fear cometh upon me,

And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

26 I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;

But trouble cometh.

1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

2 He said:

3 "May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, 'A boy is conceived!'

4 That day —may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it.

5 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.

6 That night —may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.

7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

8 May those who curse days "curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

11 "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?

12 Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?

13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

14 with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

15 with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.

19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

20 "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?

23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

24 For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.

25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."