Job 31
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
A covenant, I solemnised for mine eyes, —How then could I gaze upon a virgin?
2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
Or what would have been my portion of GOD from above? Or what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
Is there not calamity, for the perverse? and misfortune, for the workers of iniquity?
4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
Would, he, not see my ways? and of all my steps, take account?
5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
Verily I walked not in falsity, nor did my foot haste unto deceit: —
6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
Let him weigh me in balances of righteousness, —and let GOD take note of mine integrity!
7 if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;
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 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
Let me sow but, another, eat. And let, what I have springing up, be uprooted!
9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, or, by the door of my neighbour, I have lien in wait,
10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
Let my wife, grind to another, and, over her, let others bend!
11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
Surely that had been a shameful thing! and that an iniquity for the judges!
12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
Surely, a fire, had that been, which, unto destruction, would have consumed, and, of all mine increase, had it torn up the root.
13 And if too I despised the judgement of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
If I refused the right of my servant, or my handmaid, when they contended with me,
14 what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?
What then could I have done when GOD rose up? And, when he visited, what could I have answered him?
15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
Did not he who, in the womb, made me, make him? And is not he who formed us in the body one?
16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
If I withheld—from pleasure—the poor, or, the eyes of the widow, I dimmed;
17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
Or, used to eat my morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof;
18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
Surely, from my youth, he grew up to me, as to a father, and, from my birth, I acted as guide to her:
19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
If I saw one perishing for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;
20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
If his loins did not bless me, or if, with the fleece of my lambs, he did not warm himself;
21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
If I shook—against the fatherless—my hand, when I saw, in the gate, his need of my help,
22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
Let, my shoulder, from the shoulder-blade, fall, and, my arm, from the upper bone, be broken;
23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
For, a dread unto me, was calamity from GOD, and, from his majesty, I could not escape.
24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
If I made gold my stay, and, to precious metal, said, My confidence!
25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
If I rejoiced because great was my substance, and, an abundance, my hand had discovered;
26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
If I looked at the sun, when it flashed forth light, or at the moon, majestically marching along;
27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
And befooled secretly was my heart, so that my hand kissed my mouth,
28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
That too, had been a judicial iniquity, For I should have been false to GOD, above.
29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
If rejoiced in the misfortune of him that hated me, or exulted when calamity found him; —
30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword amongst my people in my affliction.
Neither did I suffer my palate to sin, by asking, with a curse, for his life:
31 And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
If the men of my household have not said, Oh for some of his flesh—we cannot get filled,
32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
Outside, the sojourner lodged not for the night, My doors—to the wayfarer, I threw open.
33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
If I covered, like Adam, my transgressions, by hiding in my bosom mine iniquity,
34 (for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them: ) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:
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 (Oh that I had a hearer, ) and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,
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 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
Oh! would I not, upon my shoulder, lift it, or bind it as a crown upon me;
37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
The number of my footsteps, I would declare to him, Like a noble, would I draw near to him.
38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
If, against me, my ground used to cry out, and, together, my ridges did weep;
39 and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [anything] from [him]:
If, the strength thereof, I used to eat, without payment, and, the soul of the holders thereof, I made groan;
40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
Instead of wheat, let there come forth bramble, and, instead of barley, a bad-smelling weed! Ended are the words of Job.
