| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1After this, Job spoke up solemnly, cursing the day he was born. | 1After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. |
| 2This is what Job said: | 2He said: |
| 3"Let the day when I was born be annihilated, along with the night when it was announced, 'It's a boy!' | 3May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived." |
| 4Let that day be dark; let God above not care about it; let no light shine over it. | 4If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it. |
| 5Let darkness and deep gloom reclaim it; let clouds settle down on it; let blackness in mid-day terrify it. | 5May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May an eclipse of the sun terrify it. |
| 6Let darkness carry that night away; let it not take its place joyfully among the days of the year; let it not be entered into the calendar. | 6If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar. |
| 7"Yes, let that night be barren; let it not appear with its joyful shout. | 7Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it. |
| 8Let whoever curses days curse it— those who are ready to awaken monsters. | 8Let those who curse certain days cast a spell on it, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan. |
| 9Let the stars of its evening twilight be dark; let it hope for light but let there be none; let it not see the breaking rays of the dawn. | 9May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn. |
| 10"Because that night refused to shut the doors of my mother's womb; it failed to keep me from seeing this trouble. | 10For that night did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes. |
| 11Why didn't I die while I was still in the womb, or die while I was being born? | 11Why was I not stillborn; why didn't I die as I came from the womb? |
| 12Why was there a lap to hold me, and why were there breasts to nurse me? | 12Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse? |
| 13"If I had died, I would be lying down by now, undisturbed, asleep, and at rest, | 13Now I would certainly be lying down in peace; I would be asleep. Then I would be at rest |
| 14along with kings and counselors of the earth, who used to build for themselves what are now only ruins, | 14with the kings and counselors of the earth, who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves, |
| 15or princes who amassed gold for themselves, and who kept filling their houses with silver. | 15or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. |
| 16"Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like babies who never saw the light? | 16Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight? |
| 17In that place, the wicked stop causing trouble, and there, those whose strength is exhausted are at rest. | 17There the wicked cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest. |
| 18In that place, those who once were prisoners will be at ease together; they won't hear the voice of oppressors. | 18The captives are completely at ease; they do not hear the voice of their oppressor. |
| 19The unimportant and the important are both there, and the servant is free from his master. | 19Both small and great are there, and the slave is set free from his master. |
| 20"Why does God give light to the sufferer or life to the bitter person: | 20Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to those whose existence is bitter, |
| 21To those who are longing for death— even though it does not come? To those who search for it more than for hidden treasure? | 21who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure, |
| 22To those who are happy beyond measure when they reach their graves? | 22who are filled with much joy and are glad when they reach the grave? |
| 23To the formerly successful man who lost his way in life, and God fenced him in? | 23Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in? |
| 24"As far as I'm concerned, my food comes to me in the form of sighs, and my cries of anguish pour out like water. | 24I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water. |
| 25For the dreaded thing that I feared has happened to me, what caused me to worry has engulfed me. | 25For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. |
| 26I will not be at ease; I will not be quiet; I will not rest; because trouble has arrived." | 26I cannot relax or be still; I have no rest, for trouble comes. |
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