Read the Bible

¹ Finally, Job cursed the day
of his birth
²     by saying to God:
³ Blot out the day of my birth
and the night when my parents
    created a son.
⁴ Forget about that day,
    cover it with darkness,
⁵ and send thick, gloomy shadows
    to fill it with dread.
⁶ Erase that night from the calendar
    and conceal it with darkness.
⁷ Don't let children be created
or joyful shouts be heard
    ever again in that night.
⁸ Let those with magic powers^[a]
    place a curse on that day.
⁹ Darken its morning stars
    and remove all hope of light,
¹⁰ because it let me be born
    into a world of trouble.

¹¹ Why didn't I die at birth?
¹²     Why was I accepted^[b]
    and allowed to nurse
    at my mother's breast?
¹³ Now I would be at peace
    in the silent world below
¹⁴ with kings and their advisors
    whose palaces lie in ruins,
¹⁵ and with rulers once rich
    with silver and gold.
¹⁶ I wish I had been born dead
and then buried,
never to see
    the light of day.
¹⁷ In the world of the dead,
the wicked and the weary rest
    without a worry.
¹⁸ Everyone is there—
¹⁹ where captives and slaves
    are free at last.

²⁰ Why does God let me live
when life is miserable
    and so bitter?
²¹ I keep longing for death
more than I would seek
    a valuable treasure.
²² Nothing could make me happier
    than to be in the grave.
²³ Why do I go on living
when God has me surrounded,
    and I can't see the road?
²⁴ Moaning and groaning
    are my food and drink,
²⁵ and my worst fears
    have all come true.
²⁶ I have no peace or rest—
    only troubles and worries.