Ἰώβ 31

1 διαθήκην ἐθέμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου καὶ οὐ συνήσω ἐπὶ παρθένον

“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

2 καὶ τί ἐμέρισεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπάνωθεν καὶ κληρονομία ἱκανοῦ ἐξ ὑψίστων

For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 οὐχὶ ἀπώλεια τῷ ἀδίκῳ καὶ ἀπαλλοτρίωσις τοῖς ποιοῦσιν ἀνομίαν

Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

4 οὐχὶ αὐτὸς ὄψεται ὁδόν μου καὶ πάντα τὰ διαβήματά μου ἐξαριθμήσεται

Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?

5 εἰ δὲ ἤμην πεπορευμένος μετὰ γελοιαστῶν εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐσπούδασεν ὁ πούς μου εἰς δόλον

“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit

6 ἱσταίη με ἄρα ἐν ζυγῷ δικαίῳ οἶδεν δὲ ὁ κύριος τὴν ἀκακίαν μου

(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);

7 εἰ ἐξέκλινεν ὁ πούς μου ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ εἰ δὲ καὶ τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ ἐπηκολούθησεν ἡ καρδία μου εἰ δὲ καὶ ταῖς χερσίν μου ἡψάμην δώρων

if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

8 σπείραιμι ἄρα καὶ ἄλλοι φάγοισαν ἄρριζος δὲ γενοίμην ἐπὶ γῆς

then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

9 εἰ ἐξηκολούθησεν ἡ καρδία μου γυναικὶ ἀνδρὸς ἑτέρου εἰ καὶ ἐγκάθετος ἐγενόμην ἐπὶ θύραις αὐτῆς

“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door,

10 ἀρέσαι ἄρα καὶ ἡ γυνή μου ἑτέρῳ τὰ δὲ νήπιά μου ταπεινωθείη

then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

11 θυμὸς γὰρ ὀργῆς ἀκατάσχετος τὸ μιᾶναι ἀνδρὸς γυναῖκα

For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

12 πῦρ γάρ ἐστιν καιόμενον ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν μερῶν οὗ δ’ ἂν ἐπέλθῃ ἐκ ῥιζῶν ἀπώλεσεν

for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

13 εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐφαύλισα κρίμα θεράποντός μου ἢ θεραπαίνης κρινομένων αὐτῶν πρός με

“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,

14 τί γὰρ ποιήσω ἐὰν ἔτασίν μου ποιήσηται ὁ κύριος ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἐπισκοπήν τίνα ἀπόκρισιν ποιήσομαι

what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him?

15 πότερον οὐχ ὡς καὶ ἐγὼ ἐγενόμην ἐν γαστρί καὶ ἐκεῖνοι γεγόνασιν γεγόναμεν δὲ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ κοιλίᾳ

Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?

16 ἀδύνατοι δὲ χρείαν ἥν ποτ’ εἶχον οὐκ ἀπέτυχον χήρας δὲ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν οὐκ ἐξέτηξα

“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸν ψωμόν μου ἔφαγον μόνος καὶ οὐχὶ ὀρφανῷ μετέδωκα

or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 ὅτι ἐκ νεότητός μου ἐξέτρεφον ὡς πατὴρ καὶ ἐκ γαστρὸς μητρός μου ὡδήγησα

(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);

19 εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑπερεῖδον γυμνὸν ἀπολλύμενον καὶ οὐκ ἠμφίασα

if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

20 ἀδύνατοι δὲ εἰ μὴ εὐλόγησάν με ἀπὸ δὲ κουρᾶς ἀμνῶν μου ἐθερμάνθησαν οἱ ὦμοι αὐτῶν

if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

21 εἰ ἐπῆρα ὀρφανῷ χεῖρα πεποιθὼς ὅτι πολλή μοι βοήθεια περίεστιν

if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate;

22 ἀποσταίη ἄρα ὁ ὦμός μου ἀπὸ τῆς κλειδός ὁ δὲ βραχίων μου ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγκῶνός μου συντριβείη

then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

23 φόβος γὰρ κυρίου συνέσχεν με καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ λήμματος αὐτοῦ οὐχ ὑποίσω

For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.

24 εἰ ἔταξα χρυσίον ἰσχύν μου εἰ δὲ καὶ λίθῳ πολυτελεῖ ἐπεποίθησα

“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’

25 εἰ δὲ καὶ εὐφράνθην πολλοῦ πλούτου μοι γενομένου εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπ’ ἀναριθμήτοις ἐθέμην χεῖρά μου

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

26 ἦ οὐχ ὁρῶ μὲν ἥλιον τὸν ἐπιφαύσκοντα ἐκλείποντα σελήνην δὲ φθίνουσαν οὐ γὰρ ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν

if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendour,

27 καὶ εἰ ἠπατήθη λάθρᾳ ἡ καρδία μου εἰ δὲ καὶ χεῖρά μου ἐπιθεὶς ἐπὶ στόματί μου ἐφίλησα

and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;

28 καὶ τοῦτό μοι ἄρα ἀνομία ἡ μεγίστη λογισθείη ὅτι ἐψευσάμην ἐναντίον κυρίου τοῦ ὑψίστου

this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.

29 εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπιχαρὴς ἐγενόμην πτώματι ἐχθρῶν μου καὶ εἶπεν ἡ καρδία μου εὖγε

“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him

30 ἀκούσαι ἄρα τὸ οὖς μου τὴν κατάραν μου θρυληθείην δὲ ἄρα ὑπὸ λαοῦ μου κακούμενος

(I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

31 εἰ δὲ καὶ πολλάκις εἶπον αἱ θεράπαιναί μου τίς ἂν δῴη ἡμῖν τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ πλησθῆναι λίαν μου χρηστοῦ ὄντος

if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’

32 ἔξω δὲ οὐκ ηὐλίζετο ξένος ἡ δὲ θύρα μου παντὶ ἐλθόντι ἀνέῳκτο

(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveller);

33 εἰ δὲ καὶ ἁμαρτὼν ἀκουσίως ἔκρυψα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου

if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34 οὐ γὰρ διετράπην πολυοχλίαν πλήθους τοῦ μὴ ἐξαγορεῦσαι ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν εἰ δὲ καὶ εἴασα ἀδύνατον ἐξελθεῖν θύραν μου κόλπῳ κενῷ

because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—

35 τίς δῴη ἀκούοντά μου χεῖρα δὲ κυρίου εἰ μὴ ἐδεδοίκειν συγγραφὴν δέ ἣν εἶχον κατά τινος

oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!

36 ἐπ’ ὤμοις ἂν περιθέμενος στέφανον ἀνεγίνωσκον

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown.

37 καὶ εἰ μὴ ῥήξας αὐτὴν ἀπέδωκα οὐθὲν λαβὼν παρὰ χρεοφειλέτου

I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.

38 εἰ ἐπ’ ἐμοί ποτε ἡ γῆ ἐστέναξεν εἰ δὲ καὶ οἱ αὔλακες αὐτῆς ἔκλαυσαν ὁμοθυμαδόν

If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;

39 εἰ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῆς ἔφαγον μόνος ἄνευ τιμῆς εἰ δὲ καὶ ψυχὴν κυρίου τῆς γῆς ἐκβαλὼν ἐλύπησα

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

40 ἀντὶ πυροῦ ἄρα ἐξέλθοι μοι κνίδη ἀντὶ δὲ κριθῆς βάτος καὶ ἐπαύσατο Ιωβ ῥήμασιν

let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.