Job 3:3
New International Version
“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

New Living Translation
“Let the day of my birth be erased, and the night I was conceived.

English Standard Version
“Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’

Berean Standard Bible
“May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

King James Bible
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

New King James Version
“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’

New American Standard Bible
“May the day on which I was to be born perish, As well as the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

NASB 1995
“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

NASB 1977
“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

Legacy Standard Bible
“Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A man is conceived.’

Amplified Bible
“Let the day on which I was born perish, And the night which announced: ‘There is a man-child conceived.’

Christian Standard Bible
May the day I was born perish, and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, “A boy is conceived.”

American Standard Version
Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night which said, There is a man-child conceived.

Contemporary English Version
Blot out the day of my birth and the night when my parents created a son.

English Revised Version
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, There is a man child conceived.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Scratch out the day I was born and the night that said, 'A boy has been conceived!'

International Standard Version
"Let the day when I was born be annihilated, along with the night when it was announced, 'It's a boy!'

Majority Standard Bible
“May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

NET Bible
"Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said, 'A man has been conceived!'

New Heart English Bible
"Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'A man is conceived.'

Webster's Bible Translation
Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a mail child conceived.

World English Bible
“Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, ‘There is a boy conceived.’
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
“Let the day perish in which I am born, "" And the night that has said: A man-child has been conceived.

Young's Literal Translation
Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.'

Smith's Literal Translation
The day shall perish I shall bring forth in it, and the night said, A male was conceived.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.

Catholic Public Domain Version
May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived.”

New American Bible
Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”

New Revised Standard Version
“Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, A male child is conceived.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
“Let the day in which I was born be destroyed, and the night in which it was said, ‘a man is conceived’
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night wherein it was said: 'A man-child is brought forth.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a man-child!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Laments His Birth
2And this is what he said: 3“May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ 4If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 20:14-18
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. / Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. / May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning and a battle cry at noon, ...

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3
So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive. / But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

Jeremiah 15:10
Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

1 Kings 19:4
while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Jonah 4:3
And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Revelation 9:6
In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.

Job 10:18-19
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! / If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

Job 7:16
I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

Job 14:1
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.

Job 10:1
“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Matthew 26:24
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Job 6:8-9
If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope: / that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!

Job 17:1
“My spirit is broken; my days are extinguished; the grave awaits me.

Job 30:23
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

Job 21:7
Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?


Treasury of Scripture

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

Let the day.

Job 10:18,19
Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! …

Jeremiah 15:10
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

Jeremiah 20:14,15
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed…

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Job 3
1. Job curses the day and services of his birth.
13. The ease of death.
20. He complains of life, because of his anguish.














May the day of my birth perish
In this opening lament, Job expresses a deep desire for the day of his birth to be erased from existence. The Hebrew word for "perish" is "אָבַד" (avad), which conveys a sense of being lost or destroyed. This reflects Job's profound despair and his wish that the day he was born would be obliterated from memory. Historically, the birth of a child, especially a male, was a cause for great celebration in ancient Near Eastern cultures. Job's wish for this day to perish underscores the depth of his suffering and the reversal of joy to sorrow.

and the night it was said
The phrase "the night it was said" refers to the announcement of conception, a moment typically filled with hope and expectation. The Hebrew word "אָמַר" (amar) means "to say" or "to declare," indicating a public proclamation. In the cultural context of the time, such announcements were significant, marking the continuation of a family line. Job's lamentation here is not just personal but also communal, as he wishes to erase even the memory of the night that brought such news.

‘A boy is conceived.’
The announcement "A boy is conceived" highlights the cultural importance of male offspring in ancient societies. Sons were seen as carriers of the family name and inheritors of property and legacy. The Hebrew word for "conceived" is "הָרָה" (harah), which means to become pregnant. Job's desire to negate this moment reflects his utter hopelessness and the inversion of cultural values, where what was once a blessing is now seen as a curse. This phrase captures the depth of Job's anguish, as he wishes to undo the very beginning of his existence, a radical expression of his suffering and loss.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“May the day
י֭וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

of my birth
אִוָּ֣לֶד (’iw·wā·leḏ)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

perish,
יֹ֣אבַד (yō·ḇaḏ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6: To wander away, lose oneself, to perish

and the night
וְהַלַּ֥יְלָה (wə·hal·lay·lāh)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3915: A twist, night, adversity

it was said,
אָ֝מַ֗ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘A boy
גָֽבֶר׃ (ḡā·ḇer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1397: A valiant man, warrior, a person simply

is conceived.’
הֹ֣רָה (hō·rāh)
Verb - QalPass - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2030: Pregnant


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OT Poetry: Job 3:3 Let the day perish in which (Jb)
Job 3:2
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