איוב 31

1 ברית כרתי לעיני ומה אתבונן על-בתולה

I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

2 ומה חלק אלוה ממעל ונחלת שדי ממרמים

For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

3 הלא-איד לעול ונכר לפעלי און

Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

4 הלא-הוא יראה דרכי וכל-צעדי יספור

Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?

5 אם-הלכתי עם-שוא ותחש על-מרמה רגלי

If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

6 ישקלני במאזני-צדק וידע אלוה תמתי

let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

7 אם תטה אשרי מני הדרך ואחר עיני הלך לבי ובכפי דבק מאום

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,

8 אזרעה ואחר יאכל וצאצאי ישרשו

then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

9 אם-נפתה לבי על-אשה ועל-פתח רעי ארבתי

If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

10 תטחן לאחר אשתי ועליה יכרעון אחרין

then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

11 כי-הוא (היא) זמה והיא (והוא) עון פלילים

For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

12 כי אש היא עד-אבדון תאכל ובכל-תבואתי תשרש

It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

13 אם-אמאס--משפט עבדי ואמתי ברבם עמדי

If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

14 ומה אעשה כי-יקום אל וכי-יפקד מה אשיבנו

then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

15 הלא-בבטן עשני עשהו ויכננו ברחם אחד

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?

16 אם-אמנע מחפץ דלים ועיני אלמנה אכלה

If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

17 ואכל פתי לבדי ולא-אכל יתום ממנה

if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

18 כי מנעורי גדלני כאב ומבטן אמי אנחנה

(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )

19 אם-אראה אובד מבלי לבוש ואין כסות לאביון

if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

20 אם-לא ברכוני חלצו ומגז כבשי יתחמם

if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 אם-הניפותי על-יתום ידי כי-אראה בשער עזרתי

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;

22 כתפי משכמה תפול ואזרעי מקנה תשבר

then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

23 כי פחד אלי איד אל ומשאתו לא אוכל

For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

24 אם-שמתי זהב כסלי ולכתם אמרתי מבטחי

If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

25 אם-אשמח כי-רב חילי וכי-כביר מצאה ידי

if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

26 אם-אראה אור כי יהל וירח יקר הלך

if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,

27 ויפת בסתר לבי ותשק ידי לפי

so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

28 גם-הוא עון פלילי כי-כחשתי לאל ממעל

which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

29 אם-אשמח בפיד משנאי והתעררתי כי-מצאו רע

if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

30 ולא-נתתי לחטא חכי-- לשאל באלה נפשו

for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

31 אם-לא אמרו מתי אהלי מי-יתן מבשרו לא נשבע

if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”

32 בחוץ לא-ילין גר דלתי לארח אפתח

for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

33 אם-כסיתי כאדם פשעי-- לטמון בחבי עוני

if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

34 כי אערוץ המון רבה-- ובוז-משפחות יחתני ואדם לא-אצא פתח

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;

35 מי יתן-לי שמע לי-- הן-תוי שדי יענני וספר כתב איש ריבי

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,

36 אם-לא על-שכמי אשאנו אענדנו עטרות לי

which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

37 מספר צעדי אגידנו כמו-נגיד אקרבנו

With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

38 אם-עלי אדמתי תזעק ויחד תלמיה יבכיון

So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

39 אם-כחה אכלתי בלי-כסף ונפש בעליה הפחתי

if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,

40 תחת חטה יצא חוח--ותחת-שערה באשה תמו דברי איוב

then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)