| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. | 1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. |
| 2And Job spake, and said, | 2He said: |
| 3Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. | 3"May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, 'A boy is conceived!' |
| 4Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. | 4That day--may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. |
| 5Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. | 5May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. |
| 6As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. | 6That 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. |
| 7Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. | 7May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. |
| 8Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. | 8May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. |
| 9Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: | 9May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, |
| 10Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. | 10for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. |
| 11Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? | 11"Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? |
| 12Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? | 12Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? |
| 13For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, | 13For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest |
| 14With kings and counsellers of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; | 14with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, |
| 15Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: | 15with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. |
| 16Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. | 16Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? |
| 17There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. | 17There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. |
| 18There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. | 18Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout. |
| 19The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. | 19The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners. |
| 20Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; | 20"Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, |
| 21Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; | 21to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, |
| 22Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? | 22who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? |
| 23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? | 23Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? |
| 24For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. | 24For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. |
| 25For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. | 25What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. |
| 26I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. | 26I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." |
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