I made a covenant with mine eyes;
How then should I look upon a virgin?
{Or, for what portion should I have of God…And what heritage &c? Is there not calamity &c.?}For what is the portion from God above,
And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,
And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Doth not he see my ways,
And number all my steps?
If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot hath hasted to deceit
(Let me be weighed in an even balance,
That God may know mine integrity);
If my step hath turned out of the way,
And my heart walked after mine eyes,
And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:
Then let me sow, and let another eat;
Yea, let {Or, my offspring Hebrew: my produce.}the produce of my field be rooted out.
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman,
And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;
Then let my wife grind unto another,
And let others bow down upon her.
For that were a heinous crime;
Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
For it is a fire that consumeth unto {Hebrew: Abaddon. See chapter 26:6}Destruction,
And would root out all mine increase.
If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,
When they contended with me;
What then shall I do when God riseth up?
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
If I have withheld {Or, aught that the poor desired}the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering;
If his loins have not blessed me,
And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
Because I saw my help in the gate:
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,
And mine arm be broken from the bone.
For calamity from God is a terror to me,
And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
If I have made gold my hope,
And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gotten much;
If I have beheld {Hebrew: the light.}the sun when it shined,
Or the moon walking in brightness,
And my heart hath been secretly enticed,
And {Hebrew: my hand hath kissed my mouth.}my mouth hath kissed my hand:
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
For I should have denied the God that is above.
If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or lifted up myself when evil found him
(Yea, I have not suffered by {Hebrew: palate.}mouth to sin
By asking his life with a curse);
If the men of my tent have not said,
Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?
(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street;
But I have opened my doors to {Hebrew: the way.}the traveller);
If {Or, after the manner of men}like Adam I have covered my transgressions,
By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door—
Oh that I had one to hear me!
(Lo, here is my {Hebrew: mark.}signature, let the Almighty answer me)
And that I had the {Hebrew: book.}indictment which mine adversary hath written!
Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;
I would bind it unto me as a crown:
I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
As a prince would I {Or, present it to him}go near unto him.
If my land crieth out against me,
And the furrows thereof weep together;
If I have eaten the {Hebrew: strength.}fruits thereof without money,
Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
Let {Or, thorns}thistles grow instead of wheat,
And {Or, noisome weeds}cockle instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
Querverweise zu Hiob 31,9 Hiob 31,9
And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to {Or, humble}afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight,Saying, No eye shall see me:And he {Or, putteth a covering on his face}disguiseth his face.
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father.
In the dark they dig through houses: {Or, Which they had marked for themselves}They shut themselves up in the day-time;They know not the light.
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin.
they were as fed horses roaming at large; every one neighed after his neighbor's wife.
To deliver thee from the strange woman,Even from the foreigner that {Hebrew: maketh smooth her words.}flattereth with her words;
That forsaketh the {Or, guide}friend of her youth,And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
For {Or, she sinketh down unto death, which is her house}her house inclineth unto death,And her paths unto {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead;
None that go unto her return again,Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:
They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened.
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,And her mouth is smoother than oil:
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;Her steps take hold on Sheol;
{Or, Lest thou find the level &c. Or, Lest thou weigh carefully the path of life}So that she findeth not the level path of life:Her ways are unstable, and {Or, thou canest not know them}she knoweth it not.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me,And depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her,And come not nigh the door of her house;
Lest thou give thine honor unto others,And thy years unto the cruel;
Lest strangers be filled with thy {Or, wealth}strength,And thy labors be in the house of an alien,
And thou {Or, groan}mourn at thy latter end,When thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction,And my heart despised reproof;
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers,Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
I was well-nigh in all evilIn the midst of the assembly and congregation.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern,And running waters out of thine own well.
{Or, Let}Should thy springs be dispersed abroad,And streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for thyself alone,And not for strangers with thee.
Let thy fountain be blessed;And rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
As a loving hind and a pleasant doe,Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times;And {Hebrew: go astray.}be thou ravished always with her love.
For why shouldest thou, my son, {Hebrew: go astray.}be ravished with a strange woman,And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Jehovah;And he {Or, weigheth carefully}maketh level all his paths.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked,And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
He shall die for lack of instruction;And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Lust not after her beauty in thy heart;Neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield;With the flattering of her lips she forceth him along.
The mouth of strange women is a deep pit;He {Or, against whom Jehovah hath indignation}that is abhorred of Jehovah shall fall therein.
And I find more bitter than death the woman {Or, who is a snare, and her heart is as nets}whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.