Job 31

1 Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.

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

2 Quam enim partem haberet in me Deus desuper, et hereditatem Omnipotens de excelsis?

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

3 Numquid non perditio est iniquo, et alienatio operantibus iniustitiam?

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

4 Nonne ipse considerat vias meas, et cunctos gressus meos dinumerat?

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

5 Si ambulavi in vanitate, et festinavit in dolo pes meus:

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

6 Appendat me in statera iusta, et sciat Deus simplicitatem meam.

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

7 Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutum est oculos meos cor meum, et si manibus meis adhæsit macula:

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 Seram, et alium comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.

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

9 Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum:

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

10 Scortum alterius sit uxor mea, et super illam incurventur alii.

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

11 Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.

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

12 Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.

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

13 Si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo, et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me:

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

14 Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit ad iudicandum Deus? et cum quæsierit, quid respondebo illi?

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

15 Numquid non in utero fecit me qui et illum operatus est: et formavit me in vulva unus?

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

16 Si negavi, quod volebant, pauperibus, et oculos viduæ expectare feci:

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

17 Si comedi buccellam meam solus, et non comedit pupillus ex ea:

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

18 (Quia ab infantia mea crevit mecum miseratio: et de utero matris meæ egressa est mecum.)

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

19 Si despexi pereuntem, eo quod non habuerit indumentum, et absque operimento pauperem:

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

20 Si non benedixerunt mihi latera eius, et de velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est:

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

21 Si levavi super pupillum manum meam, etiam cum viderem me in porta superiorem:

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

22 Humerus meus a iunctura sua cadat, et brachium meum cum suis ossibus confringatur.

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

23 Semper enim quasi tumentes super me fluctus timui Deum, et pondus eius ferre non potui.

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

24 Si putavi aurum robur meum, et obrizo dixi: Fiducia mea.

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

25 Si lætatus sum super multis divitiis meis, et quia plurima reperit manus mea.

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

26 Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare:

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

27 Et lætatum est in abscondito cor meum, et osculatus sum manum meam ore meo.

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

28 Quæ est iniquitas maxima, et negatio contra Deum altissimum.

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

29 Si gavisus sum ad ruinam eius, qui me oderat, et exultavi quod invenisset eum malum.

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

30 Non enim dedi ad peccandum guttur meum, ut expeterem maledicens animam eius.

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

31 Si non dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei: Quis det de carnibus eius ut saturemur:

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

32 Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.

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

33 Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam.

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

34 Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, et despectio propinquorum terruit me: et non magis tacui, nec egressus sum ostium.

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 Quis mihi tribuat auditorem, ut desiderium meum audiat Omnipotens: et librum scribat ipse qui iudicat.

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 Ut in humero meo portem illum, et circumdem illum quasi coronam mihi?

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

37 Per singulos gradus meos pronunciabo illum, et quasi principi offeram eum.

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

38 Si adversum me terra mea clamat, et cum ipsa sulci eius deflent:

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

39 Si fructus eius comedi absque pecunia, et animam agricolarum eius afflixi:

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

40 Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina. (Finita sunt verba Iob.)

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