Job 31

¹“I 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?

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

⁵“If 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.

⁹“If 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.

¹³“If 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?

¹⁶“If 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.

²⁴ “If 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,

²⁶ if 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.

²⁹“If 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.

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

³⁹ if 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.

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