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3:1  ·After seven days [L Afterward] Job ·cried out [L opened his mouth] and cursed ·the day he had been born [L his day; Jer. 20:14–18],
3:2  saying:
3:3  “Let the day I was born be destroyed, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is ·born [L conceived]!’
3:4  Let that day turn to darkness [C contrast Gen. 1:3]. Don’t let God ·care about [L seek] it. Don’t let light shine on it.
3:5  Let darkness and gloom ·have that day [L redeem it]. Let a cloud ·hide [L settle over] it. Let thick darkness ·cover its light [overwhelm the day].
3:6  Let thick darkness capture that night. Don’t count it among the days of the year or put it in any of the months.
3:7  Let that night be ·empty [barren], with no shout of joy ·to be heard [L entering it].
3:8  Let those who curse ·days [or the Sea; C a symbol of chaos] curse that day [C Balaam (Num. 22–24) is an example of a professional curser]. Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan [C a creature in ancient Near Eastern texts that represents chaos; 41:1, 12; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Is. 27:1].
3:9  Let that day’s morning stars ·never appear [L become dark]; let it ·wait [hope] for daylight that never comes. Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
3:10  because it ·allowed me to be born [L did not shut the doors of my (mother’s) womb] and did not hide trouble from my eyes.
3:11  “Why didn’t I die as soon as I ·was born [L came out of the womb]? Why didn’t I die when I came out of the ·womb [L belly; Eccl. 6:3–5]?
3:12  Why did my mother’s knees receive me, and ·my mother’s breasts feed me [L why were there breasts that I could suck]?
3:13  If they had not been there, I would be lying dead in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
3:14  with kings and wise men of the earth who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
3:15  I would be asleep with rulers who filled their houses with gold and silver.
3:16  Why was I not ·buried [L hidden] like a ·child born dead [stillborn], like a baby who never saw the light of day?
3:17  In the grave the wicked ·stop making trouble [or cease their agitation], and the weary workers are at rest.
3:18  In the grave there is rest for the ·captives [prisoners] who no longer hear the ·shout [L voice] of the ·slave driver [taskmaster].
3:19  People great and small are ·in the grave [L there], and the ·slave [servant] is freed from his master.
3:20  “Why is light given to those in misery? Why is life given to those who are ·so unhappy [depressed]?
3:21  They want to die, but death does not come. They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
3:22  They are very happy [L they celebrate] when they get to the grave.
3:23  They cannot see where they are going. God has ·hidden the road ahead [L placed a hedge around him].
3:24  I ·make sad sounds [sigh] as I eat; my groans pour out like water.
3:25  ·Everything I feared and dreaded has happened to me. [or For the dread I dreaded has come to me, and what I feared has come to me.]
3:26  I have no peace or quietness. I have no rest, only ·trouble [agitation].”