Study Desk

They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure;

class="poetry"> Iyov said, "Perish the day I was born and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.' May that day be darkness, may God on high not seek it, may no light shine on it, may gloom dark as death defile it, may clouds settle on it, may it be terrified by its own blackness. "As for that night, may thick darkness seize it, may it not be joined to the days of the year, may it not be numbered among the months; may that night be desolate, may no cry of joy be heard in it; may those who curse days curse it, those who[se curses] could rouse Livyatan; may the stars of its twilight be dark, may it look for light but get none, may it never see the shimmer of dawn — because it didn't shut the doors of the womb I was in and shield my eyes from trouble. "If I had been stillborn, if I had died at birth, had there been no knees to receive me or breasts for me to suck. Then I would be lying still and in peace, I would have slept and been at rest, along with kings and their earthly advisers, who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had [plenty of] gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or I could have been like a hidden, miscarried child that never saw light. "There the wicked cease their raging, there the weary are at rest, prisoners live at peace together without hearing a taskmaster's yells. Great and small alike are there, and the slave is free of his master. "So why must light be given to the miserable and life to the bitter in spirit? They long for death, but it never comes; they search for it more than for buried treasure; when at last they find the grave, they are so happy they shout for joy. [Why give light] to a man who wanders blindly, whom God shuts in on every side? "My sighing serves in place of my food, and my groans pour out in a torrent; for the thing I feared has overwhelmed me, what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quiet, no rest; and anguish keeps coming."

"But now it comes to you, and you are impatient; at the first touch, you are in shock.

The lion may growl, the king lion may roar, but that old lion's teeth are broken;

It stood still, but I couldn't make out its appearance; yet the form stayed there before my eyes. Then I heard a subdued voice:

"Call if you like, but will anyone answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

I watch as a fool establishes roots, but I curse his home with sudden [destruction] —

But he saves the poor from the sword, their mouth, and from the clutches of the strong;

For he wounds, but he bandages the sore; his hands may strike, but they also heal.

But my brothers are as deceptive as vadis, as vadi streams that soon run dry;

but as the weather warms up, they vanish; when it's hot, they disappear.

but they are disappointed, because they were confident; on arrival there, they are frustrated.

Honest words are forceful indeed, but what do your arguments prove?

When I lie down, I ask, ‘When can I get up?' But the night is long, and I keep tossing to and fro until daybreak.

"Remember that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never again see good times.

"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth but will speak in my anguish of spirit and complain in my bitterness of soul.

Why don't you pardon my offense and take away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust; you will seek me, but I will be gone."

for we who were born yesterday know nothing, our days on earth are but a shadow.

He can lean on his house, but it won't stand; he can hold on to it, but it won't last;

but meanwhile its roots cause the stone house to collapse, as it seizes hold of the rocks;