Job 31
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.
2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
Quam enim partem haberet in me Deus desuper, et hereditatem Omnipotens de excelsis?
3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
Numquid non perditio est iniquo, et alienatio operantibus iniustitiam?
4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
Nonne ipse considerat vias meas, et cunctos gressus meos dinumerat?
5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
Si ambulavi in vanitate, et festinavit in dolo pes meus:
6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
Appendat me in statera iusta, et sciat Deus simplicitatem meam.
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;
Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutum est oculos meos cor meum, et si manibus meis adhæsit macula:
8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
Seram, et alium comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.
9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum:
10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
Scortum alterius sit uxor mea, et super illam incurventur alii.
11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.
12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.
13 And if too I despised the judgement of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
Si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo, et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum 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?
Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit ad iudicandum Deus? et cum quæsierit, quid respondebo illi?
15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
Numquid non in utero fecit me qui et illum operatus est: et formavit me in vulva unus?
16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
Si negavi, quod volebant, pauperibus, et oculos viduæ expectare feci:
17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
Si comedi buccellam meam solus, et non comedit pupillus ex ea:
18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
(Quia ab infantia mea crevit mecum miseratio: et de utero matris meæ egressa est mecum.)
19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
Si despexi pereuntem, eo quod non habuerit indumentum, et absque operimento pauperem:
20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
Si non benedixerunt mihi latera eius, et de velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est:
21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
Si levavi super pupillum manum meam, etiam cum viderem me in porta superiorem:
22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
Humerus meus a iunctura sua cadat, et brachium meum cum suis ossibus confringatur.
23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
Semper enim quasi tumentes super me fluctus timui Deum, et pondus eius ferre non potui.
24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
Si putavi aurum robur meum, et obrizo dixi: Fiducia mea.
25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
Si lætatus sum super multis divitiis meis, et quia plurima reperit manus mea.
26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare:
27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
Et lætatum est in abscondito cor meum, et osculatus sum manum meam ore meo.
28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
Quæ est iniquitas maxima, et negatio contra Deum altissimum.
29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
Si gavisus sum ad ruinam eius, qui me oderat, et exultavi quod invenisset eum malum.
30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword amongst my people in my affliction.
Non enim dedi ad peccandum guttur meum, ut expeterem maledicens animam eius.
31 And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
Si non dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei: Quis det de carnibus eius ut saturemur:
32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.
33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam.
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:
Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, et despectio propinquorum terruit me: et non magis tacui, nec egressus sum ostium.
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,
Quis mihi tribuat auditorem, ut desiderium meum audiat Omnipotens: et librum scribat ipse qui iudicat.
36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
Ut in humero meo portem illum, et circumdem illum quasi coronam mihi?
37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
Per singulos gradus meos pronunciabo illum, et quasi principi offeram eum.
38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
Si adversum me terra mea clamat, et cum ipsa sulci eius deflent:
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]:
Si fructus eius comedi absque pecunia, et animam agricolarum eius afflixi:
40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina. (Finita sunt verba Iob.)
