איוב 36
| ויסף אליהוא ויאמר׃ | 1 |
And Elihu added and said: —
| כתר לי זעיר ואחוך כי עוד לאלוה מלים׃ | 2 |
Restrain thyself for me a little, and I will shew thee, that, yet—for GOD, there is justification,
| אשא דעי למרחוק ולפעלי אתן צדק׃ | 3 |
I will bring my knowledge from afar, and, to my Maker, will I attribute righteousness.
| כי אמנם לא שקר מלי תמים דעות עמך׃ | 4 |
For, of a truth—not false, are my words, One of competent knowledge, is with thee.
| הן אל כביר ולא ימאס כביר כח לב׃ | 5 |
Lo! GOD, is mighty, yet will he not despise, Mighty in vigour of mind;
| לא יחיה רשע ומשפט עניים יתן׃ | 6 |
He will not keep alive one who is lawless, but, the right of oppressed ones, will he grant;
| לא יגרע מצדיק עיניו ואת מלכים לכסא וישיבם לנצח ויגבהו׃ | 7 |
He will not withdraw—from a righteous one—his eyes, —but, with kings on the throne, He hath seated men triumphantly, and they have been exalted.
| ואם אסורים בזקים ילכדון בחבלי עני׃ | 8 |
But, if, bound in fetters, they have been captured with cords of affliction,
| ויגד להם פעלם ופשעיהם כי יתגברו׃ | 9 |
Then hath he declared to them their deed, and their transgressions—that they were wont to behave themselves proudly;
| ויגל אזנם למוסר ויאמר כי ישבון מאון׃ | 10 |
Thus hath he uncovered their ear to a warning, and said—that they should turn from iniquity.
| אם ישמעו ויעבדו יכלו ימיהם בטוב ושניהם בנעימים׃ | 11 |
If they would hearken, and serve, they should complete their days, in prosperity, and their years, in pleasantness;
| ואם לא ישמעו בשלח יעברו ויגועו בבלי דעת׃ | 12 |
But, if they would not hearken, by a weapon, should they pass away, and breathe their last, no one knowing.
| וחנפי לב ישימו אף לא ישועו כי אסרם׃ | 13 |
Yea, the impious in heart, should store up anger, They should not cry for help, when he bound them.
| תמת בנער נפשם וחיתם בקדשים׃ | 14 |
Their soul should die in youth, and their life, among the unclean.
| יחלץ עני בעניו ויגל בלחץ אזנם׃ | 15 |
He would deliver the humbled in his humiliation, and would uncover—in oppression—their ear.
| ואף הסיתך מפי צר רחב לא מוצק תחתיה ונחת שלחנך מלא דשן׃ | 16 |
Yea he might even have allured thee—out of the mouth of straitness, [into] a wide space—no narrowness there, —and, the food set down on thy table, should have been full of fatness.
| ודין רשע מלאת דין ומשפט יתמכו׃ | 17 |
But, with the plea of a lawless one, thou art full, Plea and sentence, will take fast hold.
| כי חמה פן יסיתך בספק ורב כפר אל יטך׃ | 18 |
Because there is wrath, [beware] lest he take thee away with a stroke, Then let not, a great ransom, mislead thee.
| היערך שועך לא בצר וכל מאמצי כח׃ | 19 |
Will he value thy riches? Nay not precious ore, nor all the forces of strength.
| אל תשאף הלילה לעלות עמים תחתם׃ | 20 |
Do not pant for the night, when peoples disappear from their place.
| השמר אל תפן אל און כי על זה בחרת מעני׃ | 21 |
Beware, do not turn unto iniquity, For, this, thou hast chosen rather than affliction.
| הן אל ישגיב בכחו מי כמהו מורה׃ | 22 |
Lo, GOD, exalteth himself by his strength, Who like him doth teach?
| מי פקד עליו דרכו ומי אמר פעלת עולה׃ | 23 |
Who enjoined on him his way? and who ever said, Thou hast wrought perversity?
| זכר כי תשגיא פעלו אשר שררו אנשים׃ | 24 |
Remember, that thou extol his work, of which men have sung;
| כל אדם חזו בו אנוש יביט מרחוק׃ | 25 |
Every son of earth, hath viewed it, Mortal man, looketh at it from afar.
| הן אל שגיא ולא נדע מספר שניו ולא חקר׃ | 26 |
Lo, GOD, is greater than we can know, The number of his years, even past finding out!
| כי יגרע נטפי מים יזקו מטר לאדו׃ | 27 |
For he draweth up drops of water, They trickle as rain through his mist;
| אשר יזלו שחקים ירעפו עלי אדם רב׃ | 28 |
With which the clouds flow down, They drop on man in abundance.
| אף אם יבין מפרשי עב תשאות סכתו׃ | 29 |
But surely none can understand the burstings of the cloud, the crashing of his pavilion!
| הן פרש עליו אורו ושרשי הים כסה׃ | 30 |
Lo! he hath spread out over it, his lightning, The bed of the sea, hath he covered.
| כי בם ידין עמים יתן אכל למכביר׃ | 31 |
For, by those things, he executeth judgment on peoples, He giveth food in abundance:
| על כפים כסה אור ויצו עליה במפגיע׃ | 32 |
Upon both hands, he putteth a covering of lightning, and layeth command upon it against an assailant:
| יגיד עליו רעו מקנה אף על עולה׃ | 33 |
His rolling thunder telleth concerning him, —The cattle, even, concerning him that is coming up.
