Job’s Lament

      1Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And Job said,

3“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,
         And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

4“May that day be darkness;
         Let not God above care for it,
         Nor light shine on it.

5“Let darkness and black gloom claim it;
         Let a cloud settle on it;
         Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

6“As for that night, let darkness seize it;
         Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
         Let it not come into the number of the months.

7“Behold, let that night be barren;
         Let no joyful shout enter it.

8“Let those curse it who curse the day,
         Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

9“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;
         Let it wait for light but have none,
         And let it not see the breaking dawn;

10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,
         Or hide trouble from my eyes.

11“Why did I not die at birth,
         Come forth from the womb and expire?

12“Why did the knees receive me,
         And why the breasts, that I should suck?

13“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
         I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

14With kings and with counselors of the earth,
         Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

15Or with princes who had gold,
         Who were filling their houses with silver.

16“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be,
         As infants that never saw light.

17“There the wicked cease from raging,
         And there the weary are at rest.

18“The prisoners are at ease together;
         They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

19“The small and the great are there,
         And the slave is free from his master.

20“Why is light given to him who suffers,
         And life to the bitter of soul,

21Who long for death, but there is none,
         And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22Who rejoice greatly,
         And exult when they find the grave?

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

24“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
         And my cries pour out like water.

25“For what I fear comes upon me,
         And what I dread befalls me.

26“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,
         And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

Douay-Rheims Bible
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day,

Darby Bible Translation
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.

English Revised Version
After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

Webster's Bible Translation
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.

World English Bible
After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

Young's Literal Translation
After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day.March 2 Evening
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.--HEB. 4:9. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; they . . . rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth . . . Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. We that are in this tabernacle do groan, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Trouble and Rest of Good Men "There the Wicked Cease from Troubling
Sermon 127 The Trouble and Rest of Good Men "There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest." Job 3:17. When God at first surveyed all the works he had made, "behold, they were very good." All were perfect in beauty, and man, the lord of all, was perfect in holiness. And as his holiness was, so was his happiness. Knowing no sin, he knew no pain. But when sin was conceived, it soon brought forth pain; the whole scene was changed in a moment. He now groaned under the weight of …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

The Sorrowful Man's Question
"Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?"--Job 3:23. I AM VERY THANKFUL that so many of you are glad and happy. There is none too much joy in the world, and the more that any of us can create, the better. It should be a part of our happiness, and a man part of it, to try to make other people glad. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people," is a commission which many of us ought to feel is entrusted to us. If your own cup of joy is full, let it run over to others who …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

A Prayer when one Begins to be Sick.
O most righteous Judge, yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father! I, wretched sinner, do here return unto thee, though driven with pain and sickness, like the prodigal child with want and hunger. I acknowledge that this sickness and pain comes not by blind chance or fortune, but by thy divine providence and special appointment. It is the stroke of thy heavy hand, which my sins have justly deserved; and the things that I feared are now fallen upon me (Job iii. 25.) Yet do I well perceive that in wrath …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Whether Servile Fear is Good
Whether Servile Fear is Good We proceed to the fourth article thus: 1. It seems that servile fear is not good. If the use of a thing is evil, the thing itself is evil. Now the use of servile fear is evil, since "he who does something out of fear does not do well, even though that which is done be good," as the gloss says on Rom. ch. 8. It follows that servile fear is not good. 2. Again, that which has its origin in a root of sin is not good. Servile fear has its origin in a root of sin. For on Job …
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

Whether it is Lawful to Curse an Irrational Creature?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is unlawful to curse an irrational creature. Cursing would seem to be lawful chiefly in its relation to punishment. Now irrational creatures are not competent subjects either of guilt or of punishment. Therefore it is unlawful to curse them. Objection 2: Further, in an irrational creature there is nothing but the nature which God made. But it is unlawful to curse this even in the devil, as stated above [2960](A[1]). Therefore it is nowise lawful to curse an irrational …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether in the State of Innocence Children Would have Been Born Confirmed in Righteousness?
Objection 1: It would seem that in the state of innocence children would have been born confirmed in righteousness. For Gregory says (Moral. iv) on the words of Job 3:13: "For now I should have been asleep, etc.: If no sinful corruption had infected our first parent, he would not have begotten "children of hell"; no children would have been born of him but such as were destined to be saved by the Redeemer." Therefore all would have been born confirmed in righteousness. Objection 2: Further, Anselm …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Blessed virgin was Sanctified Before Animation?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Blessed Virgin was sanctified before animation. Because, as we have stated [4127](A[1]), more grace was bestowed on the Virgin Mother of God than on any saint. Now it seems to have been granted to some, to be sanctified before animation. For it is written (Jer. 1:5): "Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee": and the soul is not infused before the formation of the body. Likewise Ambrose says of John the Baptist (Comment. in Luc. i, 15): "As …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Servile Fear is Good?
Objection 1: It would seem that servile fear is not good. For if the use of a thing is evil, the thing itself is evil. Now the use of servile fear is evil, for according to a gloss on Rom. 8:15, "if a man do anything through fear, although the deed be good, it is not well done." Therefore servile fear is not good. Objection 2: Further, no good grows from a sinful root. Now servile fear grows from a sinful root, because when commenting on Job 3:11, "Why did I not die in the womb?" Gregory says (Moral. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether it is Lawful to Curse Anyone?
Objection 1: It would seem unlawful to curse anyone. For it is unlawful to disregard the command of the Apostle in whom Christ spoke, according to 2 Cor. 13:3. Now he commanded (Rom. 12:14), "Bless and curse not." Therefore it is not lawful to curse anyone. Objection 2: Further, all are bound to bless God, according to Dan. 3:82, "O ye sons of men, bless the Lord." Now the same mouth cannot both bless God and curse man, as proved in the third chapter of James. Therefore no man may lawfully curse …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Wesley and his Barber
Thursday, April 11 (Bolton).--The barber who shaved me said, "Sir, I praise God on your behalf. When you were at Bolton last, I was one of the most eminent drunkards in all the town; but I came to listen at the window, and God struck me to the heart. I then earnestly prayed for power against drinking; and God gave me more than I asked: He took away the very desire of it. Yet I felt myself worse and worse, till on April 5 last, I could hold out no longer. I knew I must drop into hell that moment unless …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

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