Job 31

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

I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.

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

Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?

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

Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.

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

Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?

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

But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:

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

(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )

7 Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutus est oculus meus cor meum, et si manibus meis adhaesit macula:

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;

8 Seram, et alius comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.

then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.

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

If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

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

then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.

11 Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.

For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.

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

For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.

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

And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;

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

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?

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

Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.

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

But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.

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

And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;

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

(for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)

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

And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;

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

and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

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

if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:

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

let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.

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

For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I cannot bear up by reason of his burden.

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

If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;

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

and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:

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

(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )

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

and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:

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

let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.

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

And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!

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

let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.

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

And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:

32 Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.

for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )

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

or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;

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

(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:

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

(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,

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

I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.

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

And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:

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

If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;

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

and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [aught] from [him]:

40 Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina.

then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.