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After this Job opened his mouth, And cursed his day,
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saying,
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Let the day perish in which I was born, And that night in which they said, Behold a man-child!
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Let that night be darkness, And let not the Lord regard it from above, Neither let light come upon it.
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But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; Let blackness come upon it;
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Let that day and night be cursed, Let darkness carry them away; Let it not come into the days of the year, Neither let it be numbered with the days of the months.
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But let that night be pain, And let not mirth come upon it, nor joy.
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But let him that curses that day curse it, Even he that is ready to attack the great whale.
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Let the stars of that night be darkened; Let it remain dark, and not come into light; And let it not see the morning star arise:
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Because it shut not up the gates of my mother’s womb, For so it would have removed sorrow from my eyes.
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For why died I not in the belly? And why did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?
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And why did the knees support me? And why did I suck the breasts?
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Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,
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With kings and counselors of the earth, Who gloried in their swords;
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Or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, Who filled their houses with silver:
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Or I should have been as an untimely birth proceeding from his mother’s womb, Or as infants who never saw light.
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There the ungodly have burned out the fury of rage; There the wearied in body rest.
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And the men of old time have together Ceased to hear the exactor’s voice.
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The small and great are there, And the servant that feared his lord.
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For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, And life to the souls which are in griefs?
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Who desire death, and obtain it not, Digging for it as for treasures;
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And would be very joyful if they should gain it?
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Death is rest to such a man, For God has hedged him in.
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For my groaning comes before my food, And I weep being beset with terror.
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For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, And that which I had feared has befallen me.
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I was not at peace, nor quiet, nor had I rest; Yet wrath came upon me.