Job 31

31“I made a covenant with my eyesⁱ

not to look lustfully at a young woman.^j

²For what is our lot^k from God above,

our heritage from the Almighty on high?^l

³Is it not ruin^m for the wicked,

disasterⁿ for those who do wrong?^o

⁴Does he not see my ways^p

and count my every step?^q

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood

or my foot has hurried after deceit^r—

⁶let God weigh me^s in honest scales^t

and he will know that I am blameless^u—

⁷if my steps have turned from the path,^v

if my heart has been led by my eyes,

or if my hands^w have been defiled,^x

⁸then may others eat what I have sown,^y

and may my crops be uprooted.^z

⁹“If my heart has been enticed^a by a woman,^b

or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰then may my wife grind^c another man’s grain,

and may other men sleep with her.^d

¹¹For that would have been wicked,^e

a sin to be judged.^f

¹²It is a fire^g that burns to Destruction^a;^h

it would have uprooted my harvest.ⁱ

¹³“If I have denied justice to any of my servants,^j

whether male or female,

when they had a grievance against me,^k

¹⁴what will I do when God confronts me?^l

What will I answer when called to account?^m

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them?ⁿ

Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?^o

¹⁶“If I have denied the desires of the poor^p

or let the eyes of the widow^q grow weary,^r

¹⁷if I have kept my bread to myself,

not sharing it with the fatherless^s—

¹⁸but from my youth I reared them as a father would,

and from my birth I guided the widow^t—

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,^u

or the needy^v without garments,

²⁰and their hearts did not bless me^w

for warming them with the fleece^x from my sheep,

²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,^y

knowing that I had influence in court,^z

²²then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let it be broken off at the joint.^a

²³For I dreaded destruction from God,^b

and for fear of his splendor^c I could not do such things.^d

²⁴“If I have put my trust in gold^e

or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’^f

²⁵if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,^g

the fortune my hands had gained,^h

²⁶if I have regarded the sunⁱ in its radiance

or the moon^j moving in splendor,

²⁷so that my heart was secretly enticed^k

and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,^l

²⁸then these also would be sins to be judged,^m

for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.ⁿ

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune^o

or gloated over the trouble that came to him^p—

³⁰I have not allowed my mouth to sin

by invoking a curse against their life^q—

³¹if those of my household have never said,

‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’^r—

³²but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,

for my door was always open to the traveler^s—

³³if I have concealed^t my sin as people do,^b

by hiding^u my guilt in my heart

³⁴because I so feared the crowd^v

and so dreaded the contempt of the clans

that I kept silent^w and would not go outside—

³⁵(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!^x

I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;

let my accuser^y put his indictment in writing.

³⁶Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,^z

I would put it on like a crown.^a

³⁷I would give him an account of my every step;^b

I would present it to him as to a ruler.^c)—

³⁸“if my land cries out against me^d

and all its furrows are wet^e with tears,

³⁹if I have devoured its yield without payment^f

or broken the spirit of its tenants,^g

⁴⁰then let briers^h come up instead of wheat

and stinkweedⁱ instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.^j