Job 3

King James Version

Full text for Job Chapter 3

¹¶ After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

²And Job spake, and said,

³Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived.

⁴Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

⁵Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify 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.

⁷Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

⁸Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

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:

¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

¹¹¶ Why died I not from the womb? [why] did I [not] give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

¹²Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

¹³For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

¹⁴With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;

¹⁵Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

¹⁶Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants [which] never saw light.

¹⁷There the wicked cease [from] troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

¹⁸[There] the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

¹⁹The small and great are there; and the servant [is] free from his master.

²⁰¶ Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter [in] soul;

²¹Which long for death, but it [cometh] not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

²²Which rejoice exceedingly, [and] are glad, when they can find the grave?

²³[Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

²⁴For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

²⁵For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

²⁶I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

AI Summaries

Short Summary

After enduring immense suffering, Job breaks his silence by cursing the day of his birth. He expresses a profound wish that he had never been born or had died immediately, desiring oblivion over his current misery. Job questions why life is granted to those who are bitter in soul and long for the grave, lamenting that his deepest fears have now come upon him.

Medium Summary

Following his period of silent grief, Job opens his mouth to lament his existence, cursing the very day of his birth and the night of his conception. He wishes for that day to be consumed by darkness and removed from the calendar, as it ushered him into sorrow. Job then questions why he did not perish in the womb or at birth, envisioning death as a state of profound rest where the weary cease from troubling and all, from kings to servants, find peace. He further queries why life, or "light," is given to those in such misery who desperately seek death. Job concludes by describing his own ceaseless anguish, stating that his greatest fears have materialized and brought him unrelenting trouble.

Long Summary

After a period of silent suffering, Job breaks his silence by uttering a profound lament, cursing the day of his birth and the night of his conception. He invokes darkness and oblivion upon that specific day, wishing it to be blotted out from time and never to see the light, because it failed to prevent his entry into a life of sorrow. Job then expresses a fervent desire that he had died at birth or even in the womb, questioning why he was sustained. He elaborates on the perceived tranquility of death, portraying it as a place of ultimate rest where he would have been quiet and at peace with kings, counsellors, and princes. In this state, the wicked cease their troubling, the weary find rest, prisoners are freed from their oppressors, and servants are liberated from their masters, signifying an ultimate equality and cessation of earthly burdens. Job then shifts his lament to question the very purpose of life for those who are in deep misery and bitterness of soul. He asks why "light" is given to individuals who long for death more ardently than for hidden treasures, and who rejoice exceedingly at the prospect of the grave. Job describes his own constant state of anguish, where sighing precedes eating and his roarings pour out like water. He concludes by acknowledging that the very thing he greatly feared has come upon him, leaving him without safety, rest, or quiet, only persistent trouble.

Core Concepts

Curse of BirthJob expresses a profound imprecation against the specific day of his birth and the night of his conception, wishing for them to be consumed by darkness and removed from the calendar due to the sorrow they introduced.
Desire for OblivionOverwhelmed by suffering, Job repeatedly wishes he had died in the womb or at birth, longing for the stillness and quiet of non-existence rather than enduring his present misery.
Peace in DeathJob envisions death as a state of ultimate rest and freedom, where the weary, the wicked, prisoners, and servants alike find peace, undisturbed by trouble or oppression.
Questioning Life's PurposeJob poses a poignant question as to why life, or "light," is granted to those who are bitter in soul, filled with misery, and who desperately long for the release of death.
Equality in the GraveThe chapter highlights that in death, all social distinctions vanish, as kings, counsellors, princes, and servants all share the same state of rest and freedom from earthly burdens.
Realization of Feared CalamityJob concludes his lament by acknowledging that the very fears and anxieties he harbored have now come to pass, leaving him in a state of constant trouble and despair.