31 I amade a covenant with mine beyes;

cWhy then should ccI think upon a maid?

2  For what dportion of God is there from above?

And what dinheritance of the Almighty from eon high?

3  Is not destruction to the wicked?

And fa strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

4  gDoth not he see my ways,

And hcount all my steps?

5  If I have walked with vanity,

Or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

6  †Let me be weighed in an even balance,

That God may know mine integrity.

7  If my step hath turned out of the way,

And imine heart walked after mine eyes,

And if any kblot hath cleaved to mine hands;

8  Then llet me sow, and let another eat;

Yea, let my moffspring be rooted out.

9  If nmine heart have been deceived by a woman,

Or if oI have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

10  Then let my wife pgrind unto another,

And let qothers bow down upon her.

11  For this is an rheinous crime;

Yea, it is san iniquity tto be punished by the judges.

12  For it is ua fire that consumeth to vdestruction,

And would root out all mine increase.

13  If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant,

When they contended with me;

14  cWhat then shall I do when God riseth up?

And when he wvisiteth, xwhat shall I answer him?

15  Did not he that made me in the womb make him?

And ||did not yone fashion us in the womb?

16  If zI have withheld the poor from their desire,

Or have acaused the eyes of the widow to fail;

17  zOr have eaten my morsel myself alone,

And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

18  (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father,

And I have bguided ||her from my mother’s womb;)

19  If I have seen any cperish dfor want of clothing,

Or any poor dwithout covering;

20  If his loins have not eblessed me,

And if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21  If I have flifted up my hand gagainst the fatherless,

When I saw my help in hthe gate:

22  Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade,

And mine arm be broken from ||the bone.

23  For idestruction from God was a kterror to me,

And by reason of his khighness I could not endure.

24  If lI have made gold my mhope,

Or have said to the nfine gold, Thou art my confidence;

25  oIf I rejoiced because my wealth was great,

And pbecause mine hand had †gotten much;

26  pqIf I beheld r†the sun when it shined,

Or the moon walking †in brightness;

27  And my heart hath been secretly senticed,

Or †my mouth hath kissed my hand:

28  This also were tan iniquity to be punished by uthe judge:

For I should have xdenied the God that is above.

29  yIf I rejoiced at the zdestruction of him that hated me,

Or alifted up myself when bevil found him:

30  cNeither have I suffered †my mouth to sin

By wishing a curse to his soul.

31  If the men of my dtabernacle said not,

Oh that we had eof his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

32  fThe stranger did not lodge in the street:

But I opened my doors ||to the traveller.

33  If I gcovered my transgressions ||has Adam,

By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

34  Did I fear a great multitude,

Or did the contempt of families terrify me,

That I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

35  iOh that one would hear me!

||Behold, my desire is, that kthe Almighty would answer me,

And that mine adversary lhad written a book.

36  Surely I would take it mupon my shoulder,

And nbind it as oa crown to me.

37  I would declare unto him the number of my steps;

As a prince would I go near unto him.

38  If my land cry against me,

Or that the furrows likewise thereof †complain;

39  pIf I have eaten †the fruits thereof without money,

Or have †caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

40  Let qthistles grow instead of wheat,

And ||cockle instead of barley.

rThe words of Job are ended.