איוב 31
| ברית כרתי לעיני ומה אתבונן על-בתולה | 1 |
“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
| ומה חלק אלוה ממעל ונחלת שדי ממרמים | 2 |
For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?
| הלא-איד לעול ונכר לפעלי און | 3 |
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
| הלא-הוא יראה דרכי וכל-צעדי יספור | 4 |
Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?
| אם-הלכתי עם-שוא ותחש על-מרמה רגלי | 5 |
“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit
| ישקלני במאזני-צדק וידע אלוה תמתי | 6 |
(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);
| אם תטה אשרי מני הדרך ואחר עיני הלך לבי ובכפי דבק מאום | 7 |
if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
| אזרעה ואחר יאכל וצאצאי ישרשו | 8 |
then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
| אם-נפתה לבי על-אשה ועל-פתח רעי ארבתי | 9 |
“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door,
| תטחן לאחר אשתי ועליה יכרעון אחרין | 10 |
then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.
| כי-הוא (היא) זמה והיא (והוא) עון פלילים | 11 |
For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
| כי אש היא עד-אבדון תאכל ובכל-תבואתי תשרש | 12 |
for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.
| אם-אמאס--משפט עבדי ואמתי ברבם עמדי | 13 |
“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,
| ומה אעשה כי-יקום אל וכי-יפקד מה אשיבנו | 14 |
what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him?
| הלא-בבטן עשני עשהו ויכננו ברחם אחד | 15 |
Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
| אם-אמנע מחפץ דלים ועיני אלמנה אכלה | 16 |
“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
| ואכל פתי לבדי ולא-אכל יתום ממנה | 17 |
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
| כי מנעורי גדלני כאב ומבטן אמי אנחנה | 18 |
(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);
| אם-אראה אובד מבלי לבוש ואין כסות לאביון | 19 |
if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;
| אם-לא ברכוני חלצו ומגז כבשי יתחמם | 20 |
if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;
| אם-הניפותי על-יתום ידי כי-אראה בשער עזרתי | 21 |
if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate;
| כתפי משכמה תפול ואזרעי מקנה תשבר | 22 |
then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.
| כי פחד אלי איד אל ומשאתו לא אוכל | 23 |
For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
| אם-שמתי זהב כסלי ולכתם אמרתי מבטחי | 24 |
“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’
| אם-אשמח כי-רב חילי וכי-כביר מצאה ידי | 25 |
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
| אם-אראה אור כי יהל וירח יקר הלך | 26 |
if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendour,
| ויפת בסתר לבי ותשק ידי לפי | 27 |
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;
| גם-הוא עון פלילי כי-כחשתי לאל ממעל | 28 |
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.
| אם-אשמח בפיד משנאי והתעררתי כי-מצאו רע | 29 |
“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him
| ולא-נתתי לחטא חכי-- לשאל באלה נפשו | 30 |
(I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);
| אם-לא אמרו מתי אהלי מי-יתן מבשרו לא נשבע | 31 |
if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
| בחוץ לא-ילין גר דלתי לארח אפתח | 32 |
(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveller);
| אם-כסיתי כאדם פשעי-- לטמון בחבי עוני | 33 |
if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
| כי אערוץ המון רבה-- ובוז-משפחות יחתני ואדם לא-אצא פתח | 34 |
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—
| מי יתן-לי שמע לי-- הן-תוי שדי יענני וספר כתב איש ריבי | 35 |
oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
| אם-לא על-שכמי אשאנו אענדנו עטרות לי | 36 |
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown.
| מספר צעדי אגידנו כמו-נגיד אקרבנו | 37 |
I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.
| אם-עלי אדמתי תזעק ויחד תלמיה יבכיון | 38 |
If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;
| אם-כחה אכלתי בלי-כסף ונפש בעליה הפחתי | 39 |
if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
| תחת חטה יצא חוח--ותחת-שערה באשה תמו דברי איוב | 40 |
let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
