| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. | 1After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. |
| 3“Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’ | 3May the day I was born perish, and the night when they said, "A boy is conceived." |
| 4Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. | 4If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it. |
| 5Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. | 5May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May an eclipse of the sun terrify it. |
| 6That night—let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. | 6If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar. |
| 7Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it. | 7Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it. |
| 8Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. | 8Let those who curse certain days cast a spell on it, those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan. |
| 9Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning, | 9May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn. |
| 10because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. | 10For that night did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes. |
| 11“Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? | 11Why was I not stillborn; why didn't I die as I came from the womb? |
| 12Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? | 12Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse? |
| 13For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, | 13Now I would certainly be lying down in peace; I would be asleep. Then I would be at rest |
| 14with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, | 14with the kings and counselors of the earth, who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves, |
| 15or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. | 15or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. |
| 16Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? | 16Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight? |
| 17There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. | 17There the wicked cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest. |
| 18There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. | 18The captives are completely at ease; they do not hear the voice of their oppressor. |
| 19The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. | 19Both small and great are there, and the slave is set free from his master. |
| 20“Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, | 20Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to those whose existence is bitter, |
| 21who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, | 21who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure, |
| 22who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? | 22who are filled with much joy and are glad when they reach the grave? |
| 23Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? | 23Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in? |
| 24For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. | 24I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water. |
| 25For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. | 25For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. |
| 26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.” | 26I cannot relax or be still; I have no rest, for trouble comes. |
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