31
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 would 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 (I
have certainly 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.