Job 31

1 I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.

2 For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?

3 Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.

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

Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?

5 If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:

6 let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )

7 If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,

if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;

8 then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.

9 If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

10 then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.

11 For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.

12 It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.

13 If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;

14 then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?

15 Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?

Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.

16 If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.

17 if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;

18 (for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )

(for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)

19 if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;

20 if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

21 if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;

if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:

22 then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.

23 For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.

24 If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;

25 if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:

26 if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,

(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )

27 so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:

28 which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.

29 if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!

30 for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.

31 if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”

And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:

32 for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )

33 if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;

34 if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;

(for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them: ) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:

35 then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,

(Oh that I had a hearer, ) and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,

36 which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.

37 With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:

38 So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;

39 if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,

and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [anything] from [him]:

40 then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)

then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.