Job 31
1 Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.
A covenant, I solemnised for mine eyes, —How then could I gaze upon a virgin?
2 Quam enim partem haberet in me Deus desuper, et hereditatem Omnipotens de excelsis?
Or what would have been my portion of GOD from above? Or what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Numquid non perditio est iniquo, et alienatio operantibus iniustitiam?
Is there not calamity, for the perverse? and misfortune, for the workers of iniquity?
4 Nonne ipse considerat vias meas, et cunctos gressus meos dinumerat?
Would, he, not see my ways? and of all my steps, take account?
5 Si ambulavi in vanitate, et festinavit in dolo pes meus:
Verily I walked not in falsity, nor did my foot haste unto deceit: —
6 Appendat me in statera iusta, et sciat Deus simplicitatem meam.
Let him weigh me in balances of righteousness, —and let GOD take note of mine integrity!
7 Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutum est oculos meos cor meum, et si manibus meis adhæsit macula:
If my goings have swerved from the way, —and, after mine eyes, hath gone my heart, and, to my hands, hath adhered any stain,
8 Seram, et alium comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.
Let me sow but, another, eat. And let, what I have springing up, be uprooted!
9 Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum:
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, or, by the door of my neighbour, I have lien in wait,
10 Scortum alterius sit uxor mea, et super illam incurventur alii.
Let my wife, grind to another, and, over her, let others bend!
11 Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.
Surely that had been a shameful thing! and that an iniquity for the judges!
12 Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.
Surely, a fire, had that been, which, unto destruction, would have consumed, and, of all mine increase, had it torn up the root.
13 Si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo, et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me:
If I refused the right of my servant, or my handmaid, when they contended with me,
14 Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit ad iudicandum Deus? et cum quæsierit, quid respondebo illi?
What then could I have done when GOD rose up? And, when he visited, what could I have answered him?
15 Numquid non in utero fecit me qui et illum operatus est: et formavit me in vulva unus?
Did not he who, in the womb, made me, make him? And is not he who formed us in the body one?
16 Si negavi, quod volebant, pauperibus, et oculos viduæ expectare feci:
If I withheld—from pleasure—the poor, or, the eyes of the widow, I dimmed;
17 Si comedi buccellam meam solus, et non comedit pupillus ex ea:
Or, used to eat my morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof;
18 (Quia ab infantia mea crevit mecum miseratio: et de utero matris meæ egressa est mecum.)
Surely, from my youth, he grew up to me, as to a father, and, from my birth, I acted as guide to her:
19 Si despexi pereuntem, eo quod non habuerit indumentum, et absque operimento pauperem:
If I saw one perishing for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;
20 Si non benedixerunt mihi latera eius, et de velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est:
If his loins did not bless me, or if, with the fleece of my lambs, he did not warm himself;
21 Si levavi super pupillum manum meam, etiam cum viderem me in porta superiorem:
If I shook—against the fatherless—my hand, when I saw, in the gate, his need of my help,
22 Humerus meus a iunctura sua cadat, et brachium meum cum suis ossibus confringatur.
Let, my shoulder, from the shoulder-blade, fall, and, my arm, from the upper bone, be broken;
23 Semper enim quasi tumentes super me fluctus timui Deum, et pondus eius ferre non potui.
For, a dread unto me, was calamity from GOD, and, from his majesty, I could not escape.
24 Si putavi aurum robur meum, et obrizo dixi: Fiducia mea.
If I made gold my stay, and, to precious metal, said, My confidence!
25 Si lætatus sum super multis divitiis meis, et quia plurima reperit manus mea.
If I rejoiced because great was my substance, and, an abundance, my hand had discovered;
26 Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare:
If I looked at the sun, when it flashed forth light, or at the moon, majestically marching along;
27 Et lætatum est in abscondito cor meum, et osculatus sum manum meam ore meo.
And befooled secretly was my heart, so that my hand kissed my mouth,
28 Quæ est iniquitas maxima, et negatio contra Deum altissimum.
That too, had been a judicial iniquity, For I should have been false to GOD, above.
29 Si gavisus sum ad ruinam eius, qui me oderat, et exultavi quod invenisset eum malum.
If rejoiced in the misfortune of him that hated me, or exulted when calamity found him; —
30 Non enim dedi ad peccandum guttur meum, ut expeterem maledicens animam eius.
Neither did I suffer my palate to sin, by asking, with a curse, for his life:
31 Si non dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei: Quis det de carnibus eius ut saturemur:
If the men of my household have not said, Oh for some of his flesh—we cannot get filled,
32 Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.
Outside, the sojourner lodged not for the night, My doors—to the wayfarer, I threw open.
33 Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam.
If I covered, like Adam, my transgressions, by hiding in my bosom mine iniquity,
34 Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, et despectio propinquorum terruit me: et non magis tacui, nec egressus sum ostium.
Then let me be made to tremble at a great throng, yea let, the contempt of families, terrify me, so that, keeping silence, I shall not go out of the door!
35 Quis mihi tribuat auditorem, ut desiderium meum audiat Omnipotens: et librum scribat ipse qui iudicat.
Oh that I had one to hear me, Lo! my crossmark, May, the Almighty, answer me! And would that, a book, mine opponent had written!
36 Ut in humero meo portem illum, et circumdem illum quasi coronam mihi?
Oh! would I not, upon my shoulder, lift it, or bind it as a crown upon me;
37 Per singulos gradus meos pronunciabo illum, et quasi principi offeram eum.
The number of my footsteps, I would declare to him, Like a noble, would I draw near to him.
38 Si adversum me terra mea clamat, et cum ipsa sulci eius deflent:
If, against me, my ground used to cry out, and, together, my ridges did weep;
39 Si fructus eius comedi absque pecunia, et animam agricolarum eius afflixi:
If, the strength thereof, I used to eat, without payment, and, the soul of the holders thereof, I made groan;
40 Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina. (Finita sunt verba Iob.)
Instead of wheat, let there come forth bramble, and, instead of barley, a bad-smelling weed! Ended are the words of Job.
