Job 31
1 I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.
Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.
2 For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?
Quam enim partem haberet in me Deus desuper, et hereditatem Omnipotens de excelsis?
3 Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?
Numquid non perditio est iniquo, et alienatio operantibus iniustitiam?
4 Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?
Nonne ipse considerat vias meas, et cunctos gressus meos dinumerat?
5 If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
Si ambulavi in vanitate, et festinavit in dolo pes meus:
6 let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.
Appendat me in statera iusta, et sciat Deus simplicitatem meam.
7 If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,
Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutum est oculos meos cor meum, et si manibus meis adhæsit macula:
8 then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.
Seram, et alium comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.
9 If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,
Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum:
10 then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
Scortum alterius sit uxor mea, et super illam incurventur alii.
11 For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.
12 It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.
Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.
13 If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,
Si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo, et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me.
14 then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?
Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit ad iudicandum Deus? et cum quæsierit, quid respondebo illi?
15 Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?
Numquid non in utero fecit me qui et illum operatus est: et formavit me in vulva unus?
16 If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;
Si negavi, quod volebant, pauperibus, et oculos viduæ expectare feci:
17 if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;
Si comedi buccellam meam solus, et non comedit pupillus ex ea:
18 (for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )
(Quia ab infantia mea crevit mecum miseratio: et de utero matris meæ egressa est mecum.)
19 if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,
Si despexi pereuntem, eo quod non habuerit indumentum, et absque operimento pauperem:
20 if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
Si non benedixerunt mihi latera eius, et de velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est:
21 if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;
Si levavi super pupillum manum meam, etiam cum viderem me in porta superiorem:
22 then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.
Humerus meus a iunctura sua cadat, et brachium meum cum suis ossibus confringatur.
23 For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.
Semper enim quasi tumentes super me fluctus timui Deum, et pondus eius ferre non potui.
24 If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’
Si putavi aurum robur meum, et obrizo dixi: Fiducia mea.
25 if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;
Si lætatus sum super multis divitiis meis, et quia plurima reperit manus mea.
26 if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,
Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare:
27 so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,
Et lætatum est in abscondito cor meum, et osculatus sum manum meam ore meo.
28 which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
Quæ est iniquitas maxima, et negatio contra Deum altissimum.
29 if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,
Si gavisus sum ad ruinam eius, qui me oderat, et exultavi quod invenisset eum malum.
30 for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
Non enim dedi ad peccandum guttur meum, ut expeterem maledicens animam eius.
31 if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
Si non dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei: Quis det de carnibus eius ut saturemur?
32 for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;
Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.
33 if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam.
34 if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;
Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, et despectio propinquorum terruit me: et non magis tacui, nec egressus sum ostium.
35 then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,
Quis mihi tribuat auditorem, ut desiderium meum audiat Omnipotens: et librum scribat ipse qui iudicat.
36 which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
Ut in humero meo portem illum, et circumdem illum quasi coronam mihi?
37 With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.
Per singulos gradus meos pronunciabo illum, et quasi principi offeram eum.
38 So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,
Si adversum me terra mea clamat, et cum ipsa sulci eius deflent:
39 if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,
Si fructus eius comedi absque pecunia, et animam agricolarum eius afflixi:
40 then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)
Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina. Finita sunt verba Iob.
