1 "I made a covenant with my eyes,

how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

2 For what is the portion from God above,

and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,

and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

4 Doesn’t he see my ways,

and count all my steps?

5 "If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hurried to deceit

6 (let me be weighed in an even balance,

that God may know my integrity);

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,

8 then let me sow, and let another eat.

Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

9 "If my heart has been enticed to a woman,

and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,

10 then let my wife grind for another,

and let others sleep with her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime.

Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

12 for it is a fire that consumes to destruction,

and would root out all my increase.

13 "If I have despised the cause of my male servant

or of my female servant,

when they contended with me,

14 what then will I do when God rises up?

When he visits, what will I answer him?

15 Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him?

Didn’t 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 alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,

I have guided her from my mother’s womb);

19 if I have seen any perish for want of clothing,

or that the needy had no covering;

20 if his heart hasn’t blessed me,

if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,

because I saw my help in the gate,

22 then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,

and my arm be broken from the bone.

23 For calamity from God is a terror to me.

Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.

24 "If I have made gold my hope,

and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’

25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

and because my hand had gotten much;

26 if I have seen the sun when it shined,

or the moon moving in splendor,

27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

for I should have denied the God who is above.

29 "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,

or lifted up myself when evil found him

30 (yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin

by asking his life with a curse);

31 if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’

32 (the foreigner has not camped in the street,

but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

33 if like Adam I have covered my transgressions,

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

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—

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!

36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

and I would bind it to me as a crown.

37 I would declare to him the number of my steps.

I would go near to him like a prince.

38 If my land cries out against me,

and its furrows weep together;

39 if I have eaten its fruits without money,

or have caused its owners to lose their life,

40 let briers grow instead of wheat,

and stinkweed instead of barley."

The words of Job are ended.

1 Eis fiz um acordo com os meus olhos- não os fixar com luxúria numa rapariga.

2 Senão, que posso eu esperar lá de cima, de Deus?

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;

6 Mas Deus pesa-me em balanças fiéis e sabe que estou inocente!

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,então que os outros ceifem aquilo que eu semeei,que tudo o que plantei seja arrancado de raiz.

11 Pois teria cometido um mal que merece castigo.

12 Seria como um fogo devastador que faz acabar no inferno,que dá cabo de uma vida.

13 Se alguma vez tivesse sido injusto para o meu criado,a minha criada, quando tiveram questões contra mim,

14 que teria eu a responder se ele quisesse interrogar-me sobre isso?

15 Pois foi Deus quem me criou, a mim, tantocomo aos meus trabalhadores. Fez-nos todos nós.

21 se tentei aproveitar-me de algum órfão,pensando tirar benefício da sua situação;

22 se fiz alguma destas coisas,então que os membros me caiam do corpo!Que os ossos se me desconjuntem!

23 Antes me aconteça isso do que enfrentar o julgamento 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 pus a minha confiança no dinheiro,

25 se a minha felicidade se baseou unicamente na riqueza,

33 ou se, como Adão, tentei encobrir as minhas faltas,com receio do que o povo poderia dizer;

34 e se com medo de o afrontar, recusei reconhecer as minhas culpase não procurei intervir a favor de outros

35 - oh, quem me dera que alguém me ouvissee tentasse dar atenção aos meus argumentos! Vejam: eu próprio assino a minha defesa; agora peço que o Deus todo-poderosome mostre em que é que errei,e que, assim, apoie as acusações que os meus inimigos me fazem.

36 Haveria de guardar o processo desse julgamento como uma coroa.

37 Dir-lhe-ia exactamente aquilo que fiz e porque o fiz,apresentando-lhe a minha defesacomo a alguém que tem verdadeiramente competênciapara me ouvir.