Job 31

31I ^amade a covenant with mine ^beyes;

^cWhy then should ^ccI think upon a maid?

²For what ^dportion of God is there from above?

And what ^dinheritance of the Almighty from ^eon high?

³Is not destruction to the wicked?

And ^fa strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

^4gDoth not he see my ways,

And ^hcount all my steps?

⁵If 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.

⁷If my step hath turned out of the way,

And ⁱmine heart walked after mine eyes,

And if any ^kblot hath cleaved to mine hands;

⁸Then ^llet me sow, and let another eat;

Yea, let my ^moffspring be rooted out.

⁹If ⁿmine heart have been deceived by a woman,

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

¹⁰Then let my wife ^pgrind unto another,

And let ^qothers bow down upon her.

¹¹For this is an ^rheinous crime;

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

¹²For it is ^ua fire that consumeth to ^vdestruction,

And would root out all mine increase.

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

When they contended with me;

^14cWhat then shall I do when God riseth up?

And when he ^wvisiteth, ^xwhat shall I answer him?

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

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

¹⁶If ^zI have withheld the poor from their desire,

Or have ^acaused the eyes of the widow to fail;

^17zOr 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;)

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

Or any poor ^dwithout covering;

²⁰If his loins have not ^eblessed me,

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

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

When I saw my help in ^hthe gate:

²²Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade,

And mine arm be broken from ^||the bone.

²³For ⁱdestruction from God was a ^kterror to me,

And by reason of his ^khighness I could not endure.

²⁴If ^lI have made gold my ^mhope,

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

^25oIf I rejoiced because my wealth was great,

And ^pbecause mine hand had ^†gotten much;

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

Or the moon walking ^†in brightness;

²⁷And my heart hath been secretly ^senticed,

Or ^†my mouth hath kissed my hand:

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

For I should have ^xdenied the God that is above.

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

Or ^alifted up myself when ^bevil found him:

^30cNeither have I suffered ^†my mouth to sin

By wishing a curse to his soul.

³¹If the men of my ^dtabernacle said not,

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

^32fThe stranger did not lodge in the street:

But I opened my doors ^||to the traveller.

³³If I ^gcovered my transgressions ^||has Adam,

By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

³⁴Did I fear a great multitude,

Or did the contempt of families terrify me,

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

³⁵ⁱOh that one would hear me!

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

And that mine adversary ^lhad written a book.

³⁶Surely I would take it ^mupon my shoulder,

And ⁿbind it as ^oa crown to me.

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

As a prince would I go near unto him.

³⁸If my land cry against me,

Or that the furrows likewise thereof ^†complain;

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

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

⁴⁰Let ^qthistles grow instead of wheat,

And ^||cockle instead of barley.

^rThe words of Job are ended.