Jó 31
O Livro
31 Eis que fiz um pacto com os meus olhos
de não os fixar com luxúria numa rapariga.
2 Senão, que poderia esperar lá de cima, de Deus,
e que herança do Todo-Poderoso, lá das alturas?
3 Não manda ele a desgraça ao perverso,
a calamidade aos que fazem o mal?
4 Ele vê tudo o que faço,
cada passo que dou.
5 Se eu tivesse mentido e defraudado alguém,
6 mas Deus pesa-me em balanças fiéis
e sabe que sou íntegro!
7 Se eu me afastei do caminho de Deus,
se, no íntimo, cobicei aquilo que os olhos viam,
se sou culpado de qualquer outro pecado,
8 então que os outros ceifem aquilo que eu semeei,
que tudo o que plantei seja arrancado de raiz!
9 Se o meu coração se deixou apaixonar por outra mulher,
ou se fiquei à espreita na porta do meu próximo,
10 então que a minha mulher moa cereal para outro homem
e que outros disponham dela à sua vontade.
11 Pois teria cometido um mal que merece castigo.
12 Seria como um fogo devastador,
que consumiria toda a minha colheita.
13 Se alguma vez tivesse sido injusto para o meu criado,
ou para a minha criada, quando tiveram questões contra mim,
14 que teria eu a responder se Deus quisesse interrogar-me sobre isso?
15 Pois foi Deus quem me criou, tanto a mim,
como aos meus trabalhadores, fez-nos a todos.
16 Se alguma vez prejudiquei os pobres
ou fiz chorar viúvas,
17 ou se tenho saboreado sozinho o meu alimento,
recusei dá-lo ao órfão com fome,
18 aliás, na minha casa, sempre se cuidou bem dos órfãos,
tratando-os como nossos próprios filhos,
e desde a infância aprendi que a viúva deve ser amparada.
19 Ou se alguma vez vi alguém tremendo de frio
e não o agasalhei com roupa,
20 e porque não o aqueci com a lã dos meus cordeiros
não fui abençoado,
21 se levantei a mão contra um órfão,
valendo-me da influência que exerço no tribunal,
22 se fiz alguma destas coisas,
então que o meu braço se rasgue do ombro,
e se rompa da articulação.
23 Tenho muito medo do castigo de Deus;
sim, receio isso mais do que qualquer outra coisa!
Porque se tiver de enfrentar a majestade de Deus,
que esperança me resta?
24 Se alguma vez coloquei a minha confiança no ouro,
25 se a minha felicidade se baseou unicamente na riqueza,
26 se olhei para o Sol, a brilhar no firmamento,
ou para a Lua, deslocando-se no céu, no seu caminho de esplendor,
27 e deixei que o coração ficasse intimamente enfeitiçado,
pondo-me a adorar esses astros
e a beijar a minha mão perante eles,
28 que seja igualmente castigado pelos juízes, como deve ser.
Pois que, se fiz alguma dessas coisas,
isso quereria dizer que reneguei o Deus dos céus.
29 Se me alegrei com a desgraça de um inimigo,
30 na verdade, nunca amaldiçoei ninguém
nem sobre ninguém reclamei vingança.
31 Se algum dos meus empregados foi mandado embora, com fome,
a realidade é que nunca fechei a porta a ninguém,
32 nem sequer ao estrangeiro,
pelo contrário, a minha casa estava aberta a toda a gente.
33 Se, como Adão, tentei encobrir as minhas faltas,
com receio daquilo que o povo poderia dizer,
34 se, com medo de afrontas, recusei reconhecer as minhas culpas
e não procurei intervir a favor de outros,
35 quem me dera que alguém me ouvisse
e tentasse dar atenção aos meus argumentos!
Vejam: eu próprio assino a minha defesa;
peço que o Todo-Poderoso me mostre em que é que errei,
apoiando as acusações que os meus inimigos me fazem.
36 Haveria de guardar o processo desse julgamento como uma coroa!
37 Dir-lhe-ia exatamente aquilo que fiz e porque o fiz,
apresentando-lhe a minha defesa como a alguém
que tem, verdadeiramente, competência para me ouvir.
38 Ou se a minha terra me acusa
de ter roubado o fruto que ela produz,
39 se tirei a vida a alguém
para poder ficar com as suas propriedades,
40 então que cresçam ali cardos, em vez de trigo,
e joio, em lugar de cevada.”
Fim das palavras de Job.
Job 31
King James Version
31 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25 If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
34 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
Job 31
Wycliffe Bible
31 I made [a] covenant with mine eyes, that I should not think on a virgin. (I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not look at a young girl.)
2 For what part should God above have in me, and what heritage should Almighty God of high things have in me? (For I thought, what is the portion from God above, and what is the inheritance from Almighty God on high?)
3 Whether perdition is not to a wicked man, and alienation of God is to men working wickedness? (Is it not perdition for the wicked, and alienation from God for those working wickedness?)
4 Whether he beholdeth not my ways, and numbereth all my goings?
5 If I have gone in vanity, and my foot hath hasted to go in guile, (I have not gone in pride, and my feet have not gone in guile;)
6 God weigh me in a just balance, and know he my simpleness. (let God weigh me in a just balance, and he shall know my innocence.)
7 If my step(s) have bowed from the way; and if mine eye(s) have followed mine heart, consenting to lust, and if a spot have cleaved to mine hands;
8 (then) sow I, and another eat, and my generation be drawn out by the root.
9 And if mine heart was deceived on a woman, and if I have set ambush at the door of my friend; (And if my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have set ambush at the door of my friend;)
10 my wife be then the whore of another man, and other men be bowed down upon her. (then let my wife be the whore of another man, and let other men be bowed down upon her.)
11 For this is unleaveful, and the most wickedness. (For this is unlawful, and the greatest of wickedness.)
12 Fire is devouring till to wasting, and drawing up by the root all generations. (It is a fire devouring unto destruction, and drawing up by the roots all of my descendants.)
13 If I despised to take doom with my servant and with mine handmaid, when they strived against me. (If I despised to do justly with my slave, or with my slave-girl, when they complained against me,)
14 What soothly shall I do, when God shall rise up to deem? and when he shall ask, what shall I answer to him? (then what shall I do, when God shall rise up to judge? and when he shall ask, what shall I answer to him?)
15 Whether he, that wrought also him, made not me in the womb, and one God formed me in the womb? (Did not he, who made me in the womb, make not also them? yea, the one God formed each of us in the womb.)
16 If I denied to poor men that, that they would, and if I made the eyes of a widow to abide; (If I denied to the poor what they needed, or if I made the eyes of a widow to have despair;)
17 (or) if I alone ate my morsel, and a fatherless child ate not thereof;
18 for merciful doing increased with me, (or was granted me,) from my young childhood, and it went out of my mother’s womb with me;
19 if I despised a man passing forth by me, for he had not a cloth (because he had no cloak), and a poor man without (any) covering;
20 if his sides blessed not me, and were not made hot of the fleece of my sheep; (if his body had no reason to bless me, because he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;)
21 if I raised up mine hand upon a fatherless child, yea, when I saw me the higher (one) in the gate; (if I raised my hand against a fatherless child, when I knew that the higher men would overlook it;)
22 my shoulder fall from his joint, and mine arm with his bones be all-broken. (then let my shoulder come out of its joint, and the bones of my arm be all-broken.)
23 For ever[more] I dreaded God, as waves waxing great upon me; and I might not bear his burden. (But I have always feared God, like waves growing great upon me; and so I could never do any of these things.)
24 If I guessed gold (to be) my strength, and I said to pured gold, Thou art my trust (Thou art what I trust in);
25 if I was glad on my many riches, and for mine hand found full many things;
26 if I saw the sun, when it shined, and the moon going clearly (and the moon moving in its glory);
27 and if mine heart was glad in private, and if I kissed mine hand with my mouth;
28 the which is the most wickedness, and denying against the highest God; (all of this is most wicked, and a denial of the God on high;)
29 if I had joy at the falling of him, that hated me, and if I joyed fully, that evil had found him; (and if I had great joy at the falling of him who hated me, and if I had rejoiced, that evil had finally found him;)
30 for I gave not my throat to do sin, that I should assail and curse his soul; (but I did not give my tongue over to sin, and assail his soul with cursing;)
31 if the men of my tabernacle said not, Who giveth, that we be [ful]filled of his fleshes? (even if the men of my household said, O God, that we be filled full with his flesh!)
32 a pilgrim dwelled not withoutforth; my door was (always) open to a way-goer/to a way-faring man;
33 if I as [a] man (ever) hid my sin, and covered (up) my wickedness in my bosom;
34 if I dreaded at [the] full great multitude, and if despising of neighbours made me afeared; and not more, (that) I was still, and went not out of the door; (if I feared all the people, or if the despising of my neighbours made me afraid; and not only that, but if I held my peace, and did not even go out the door;)
35 who giveth then an helper to me, that Almighty God hear my desire? that he that deemeth, write a book, (then who shall be my helper? my only desire is that Almighty God would listen to me. And if my adversary hath written a book against me,)
36 that I bear it on my shoulder, and compass it as a crown to me? (then I would carry it on my shoulder, and wear it like a crown.)
37 By all my degrees I shall pronounce it, and I shall as (an) offering offer it to the prince. (I shall declare all the steps, that my life hath taken, and I shall offer them like I would an offering to the prince.)
38 If my land crieth against me, and his furrows weep with it (and its furrows weep with it);
39 if I ate (the) fruits thereof without money, and I tormented the soul of (the) earth-tillers of it;
40 a briar grow to me for wheat, and a thorn for barley. (then let briars grow for me instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley. And so Job’s words were ended.)
O Livro Copyright © 2000 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
2001 by Terence P. Noble