1 After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day, Cursed his day... Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any thing of God's creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular. 2 And he said:
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived.
4 Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness.
6 Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months.
7 Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise.
8 Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan:
9 Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?
12 Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts?
13 For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep:
14 With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes:
15 Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver:
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light.
17 There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest.
18 And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.
20 Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul?
21 That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure:
22 And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave?
23 To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness?
24 Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring:
25 For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me.
26 Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me.
Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899
1 Post hæc aperuit Job os suum, et maledixit diei suo, 2 et locutus est:
3 Pereat dies in qua natus sum,
et nox in qua dictum est: Conceptus est homo.
4 Dies ille vertatur in tenebras:
non requirat eum Deus desuper,
et non illustretur lumine.
5 Obscurent eum tenebræ et umbra mortis;
occupet eum caligo,
et involvatur amaritudine.
6 Noctem illam tenebrosus turbo possideat;
non computetur in diebus anni,
nec numeretur in mensibus.
7 Sit nox illa solitaria,
nec laude digna.
8 Maledicant ei qui maledicunt diei,
qui parati sunt suscitare Leviathan.
9 Obtenebrentur stellæ caligine ejus;
expectet lucem, et non videat,
nec ortum surgentis auroræ.
10 Quia non conclusit ostia ventris qui portavit me,
nec abstulit mala ab oculis meis.
11 Quare non in vulva mortuus sum?
egressus ex utero non statim perii?
12 Quare exceptus genibus?
cur lactatus uberibus?
13 Nunc enim dormiens silerem,
et somno meo requiescerem
14 cum regibus et consulibus terræ,
qui ædificant sibi solitudines;
15 aut cum principibus qui possident aurum,
et replent domos suas argento;
16 aut sicut abortivum absconditum non subsisterem,
vel qui concepti non viderunt lucem.
17 Ibi impii cessaverunt a tumultu,
et ibi requieverunt fessi robore.
18 Et quondam vincti pariter sine molestia,
non audierunt vocem exactoris.
19 Parvus et magnus ibi sunt,
et servus liber a domino suo.
20 Quare misero data est lux,
et vita his qui in amaritudine animæ sunt:
21 qui expectant mortem, et non venit,
quasi effodientes thesaurum;
22 gaudentque vehementer
cum invenerint sepulchrum?
23 viro cujus abscondita est via
et circumdedit eum Deus tenebris?
24 Antequam comedam, suspiro;
et tamquam inundantes aquæ, sic rugitus meus:
25 quia timor quem timebam evenit mihi,
et quod verebar accidit.
26 Nonne dissimulavi? nonne silui? nonne quievi?
et venit super me indignatio.
Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition