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3After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ²Job said: ³“Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ ⁴Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine on it. ⁵Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds settle upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. ⁶That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. ⁷Yes, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. ⁸Let those curse it who curse the Sea, those who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. ⁹Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none; may it not see the eyelids of the morning— ¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, and hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? ¹²Why were there knees to receive me, or breasts for me to suck? ¹³Now I would be lying down and quiet; I would be asleep; then I would be at rest ¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuild ruins for themselves, ¹⁵or with princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver. ¹⁶Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like an infant that never sees the light? ¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. ¹⁸There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. ¹⁹The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.

²⁰“Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, ²¹who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; ²²who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave? ²³Why is light given to one who cannot see the way, whom God has fenced in? ²⁴For my sighing comes like my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. ²⁵Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. ²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes.”

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,