Job 31

¹I have made a covenant with my eyes ; how then could I gaze at a virgin ?

²What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high ?

³Is not calamity for the unrighteous , and disaster for the workers of iniquity ?

⁴Does not he see my ways and number all my steps ?

⁵If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit ;

⁶(Let me be weighed in a just balance , and let God know my integrity !)

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes , and if any spot has stuck to my hands ,

⁸then let me sow , and another eat , and let what grows for me be rooted out .

⁹If my heart has been enticed toward a woman , and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door ,

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another , and let others bow down on her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime ; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges ;

¹²for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon , and it would burn to the root all my increase .

¹³If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant , when they brought a complaint against me,

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up ? When he makes inquiry , what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb ?

¹⁶If I have withheld anything that the poor desired , or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ,

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone , and the fatherless has not eaten of it

¹⁸(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father , and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow ),

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing , or the needy without covering ,

²⁰if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep ,

²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless , because I saw my help in the gate ,

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder , and let my arm be broken from its socket .

²³For I was in terror of calamity from God , and I could not have faced his majesty .

²⁴If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence ,

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much ,

²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone , or the moon moving in splendor ,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed , and my mouth has kissed my hand ,

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges , for I would have been false to God above .

²⁹If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him

³⁰( I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse ),

³¹if the men of my tent have not said , Who is there that has not been filled with his meat ?

³²( the sojourner has not lodged in the street ; I have opened my doors to the traveler ),

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart ,

³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude , and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence , and did not go out of doors —

³⁵Oh , that I had one to hear me! ( Here is my signature ! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary !

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder ; I would bind it on me as a crown ;

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps ; like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together ,

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last ,

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat , and foul weeds instead of barley . The words of Job are ended .