איוב 31
| ברית כרתי לעיני ומה אתבונן על-בתולה | 1 |
I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
| ומה חלק אלוה ממעל ונחלת שדי ממרמים | 2 |
Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
| הלא-איד לעול ונכר לפעלי און | 3 |
Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
| הלא-הוא יראה דרכי וכל-צעדי יספור | 4 |
Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
| אם-הלכתי עם-שוא ותחש על-מרמה רגלי | 5 |
But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
| ישקלני במאזני-צדק וידע אלוה תמתי | 6 |
(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
| אם תטה אשרי מני הדרך ואחר עיני הלך לבי ובכפי דבק מאום | 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;
| אזרעה ואחר יאכל וצאצאי ישרשו | 8 |
then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
| אם-נפתה לבי על-אשה ועל-פתח רעי ארבתי | 9 |
If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
| תטחן לאחר אשתי ועליה יכרעון אחרין | 10 |
then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
| כי-הוא (היא) זמה והיא (והוא) עון פלילים | 11 |
For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
| כי אש היא עד-אבדון תאכל ובכל-תבואתי תשרש | 12 |
For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
| אם-אמאס--משפט עבדי ואמתי ברבם עמדי | 13 |
And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
| ומה אעשה כי-יקום אל וכי-יפקד מה אשיבנו | 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?
| הלא-בבטן עשני עשהו ויכננו ברחם אחד | 15 |
Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
| אם-אמנע מחפץ דלים ועיני אלמנה אכלה | 16 |
But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
| ואכל פתי לבדי ולא-אכל יתום ממנה | 17 |
And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
| כי מנעורי גדלני כאב ומבטן אמי אנחנה | 18 |
(for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
| אם-אראה אובד מבלי לבוש ואין כסות לאביון | 19 |
And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
| אם-לא ברכוני חלצו ומגז כבשי יתחמם | 20 |
and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
| אם-הניפותי על-יתום ידי כי-אראה בשער עזרתי | 21 |
if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
| כתפי משכמה תפול ואזרעי מקנה תשבר | 22 |
let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
| כי פחד אלי איד אל ומשאתו לא אוכל | 23 |
For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
| אם-שמתי זהב כסלי ולכתם אמרתי מבטחי | 24 |
If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
| אם-אשמח כי-רב חילי וכי-כביר מצאה ידי | 25 |
and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
| אם-אראה אור כי יהל וירח יקר הלך | 26 |
(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
| ויפת בסתר לבי ותשק ידי לפי | 27 |
and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
| גם-הוא עון פלילי כי-כחשתי לאל ממעל | 28 |
let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
| אם-אשמח בפיד משנאי והתעררתי כי-מצאו רע | 29 |
And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
| ולא-נתתי לחטא חכי-- לשאל באלה נפשו | 30 |
let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.
| אם-לא אמרו מתי אהלי מי-יתן מבשרו לא נשבע | 31 |
And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
| בחוץ לא-ילין גר דלתי לארח אפתח | 32 |
for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
| אם-כסיתי כאדם פשעי-- לטמון בחבי עוני | 33 |
or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
| כי אערוץ המון רבה-- ובוז-משפחות יחתני ואדם לא-אצא פתח | 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:
| מי יתן-לי שמע לי-- הן-תוי שדי יענני וספר כתב איש ריבי | 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,
| אם-לא על-שכמי אשאנו אענדנו עטרות לי | 36 |
I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
| מספר צעדי אגידנו כמו-נגיד אקרבנו | 37 |
And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
| אם-עלי אדמתי תזעק ויחד תלמיה יבכיון | 38 |
If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
| אם-כחה אכלתי בלי-כסף ונפש בעליה הפחתי | 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]:
| תחת חטה יצא חוח--ותחת-שערה באשה תמו דברי איוב | 40 |
then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
