Job 3 - Easy To Read Version

^1-3 Then Job opened his mouth and cursed {\cf2\super [8]} the day he was born.

⁴ I wish that day had stayed dark.\par I wish God would forget that day.\par I wish light had not shined on that day.\par

⁵ I wish that day had stayed dark—\par as dark as death.\par I wish clouds would hide that day.\par I wish black clouds could\par scare away the light\par from the day I was born.\par

⁶ Let the darkness keep that night.\par Leave that night off the calendar.\par Don’t put that night in any of the months.\par

⁷ Don’t let that night produce anything.\par Let no happy shout be heard on that night.\par

⁸ Some magicians are always wanting\par to wake Leviathan. {\cf2\super [9]} \par So let them say their curses,\par and curse the day I was born.\par

⁹ Let that day’s morning star be dark.\par Let that night wait for the morning,\par but may that light never come.\par Don’t let it see the first rays of sunlight.\par

¹⁰ Why? Because that night didn’t stop me\par from being born.\par That night didn’t stop me\par from seeing these troubles.\par

¹¹ Why didn’t I die when I was born?\par Why didn’t I die at birth?\par

¹² Why did my mother hold me\par on her knees?\par Why did my mother’s breasts feed me?\par

¹³ If I had died when I was born,\par I would be at peace now.\par I wish I were asleep and at rest\par

¹⁴ with the kings and wise men\par who lived on earth in the past.\par Those men built places for themselves\par that are now destroyed and gone.\par

¹⁵ I wish I were buried with those rulers\par that filled their graves {\cf2\super [10]} \par with gold and silver!\par

¹⁶ Why wasn’t I a child who died at birth\par and was buried in the ground?\par I wish I were like a baby\par that never saw the light of day.\par

¹⁷ Bad people stop making trouble\par when they are in the grave.\par And people who are tired\par find rest in the grave.\par

¹⁸ Even prisoners find relief in the grave;\par they don’t hear their guards\par yelling at them.\par

¹⁹ All kinds of people are in the grave—\par important people\par and people who are not so important.\par Even the slave is freed from his master.\par

²⁰ “Why must a suffering person\par continue to live?\par Why give life to a person\par whose soul is bitter?\par

²¹ That person wants to die,\par but death does not come.\par That sad person searches for death\par more than for hidden treasure.\par

²² Those people would be happy\par to find their grave.\par They would rejoice\par to find their tomb.\par

²³ But God keeps their future a secret,\par and builds a wall around them\par to protect them.\par

²⁴ When it is time to eat,\par I only sigh with sadness\par not with joy.\par My complaints pour out like water.\par

²⁵ I was afraid that something terrible\par might happen to me.\par And that is what happened!\par The things I feared most\par happened to me.\par

²⁶ I can’t calm down.\par I can’t relax.\par I can’t rest.\par I’m too upset!”\par