Job 31

31“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

Why then should I ¹look upon a ^ayoung woman?

²For what is the ^ballotment of God from above,

And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

³Is it not destruction for the wicked,

And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

^4cDoes He not see my ways,

And count all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood,

Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶²Let me be weighed on honest scales,

That God may know my ^dintegrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way,

Or ^emy heart walked after my eyes,

Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

⁸Then ^flet me sow, and another eat;

Yes, let my harvest be ³rooted out.

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

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

¹⁰Then let my wife grind for ^ganother,

And let others bow down over her.

¹¹For that would be wickedness;

Yes, ^hit would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

¹²For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,

And would root out all my increase.

¹³“If I have ⁱdespised the cause of my male or female servant

When they complained against me,

¹⁴What then shall I do when ^jGod rises up?

When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?

^15kDid not He who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have kept the poor from their desire,

Or caused the eyes of the widow to ^lfail,

¹⁷Or eaten my morsel by myself,

So that the fatherless could not eat of it

¹⁸(But from my youth I reared him as a father,

And from my mother’s womb I guided ⁴the widow);

¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

Or any poor man without covering;

²⁰If his ⁵heart has not ^mblessed me,

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

²¹If I have raised my hand ⁿagainst the fatherless,

When I saw I had help in the gate;

²²Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,

Let my arm be torn from the socket.

²³For ^odestruction from God is a terror to me,

And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

²⁴“If ^pI have made gold my hope,

Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

^25qIf I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

And because my hand had gained much;

^26rIf I have observed the ⁶sun when it shines,

Or the moon moving in brightness,

²⁷So that my heart has been secretly enticed,

And my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,

For I would have denied God who is above.

²⁹“If ^sI have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,

Or lifted myself up when evil found him

^30t(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin

By asking for a curse on his ⁷soul);

³¹If the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

^32u(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,

For I have opened my doors to the ⁸traveler);

³³If I have covered my transgressions ^vas ⁹Adam,

By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴Because I feared the great ^wmultitude,

And dreaded the contempt of families,

So that I kept silence

And did not go out of the door—

^35xOh, that I had one to hear me!

Here is my mark.

Oh, ^ythat the Almighty would answer me,

That my ¹Prosecutor had written a book!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,

And bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I would declare to Him the number of my steps;

Like a prince I would approach Him.

³⁸“If my land cries out against me,

And its furrows weep together;

³⁹If ^zI have eaten its ²fruit without money,

Or ^acaused its owners to lose their lives;

⁴⁰Then let ^bthistles grow instead of wheat,

And weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.