Job 31
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
“I made a covenant for my eyes, And how do I attend to a virgin?
2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?
3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
Does He not see my ways, And number all my steps?
5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
If I have walked with vanity, And my foot hurries to deceit,
6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
He weighs me in righteous balances, And God knows my integrity.
7 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;
If my step turns aside from the way, And my heart has gone after my eyes, And blemish has cleaved to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
Let me sow—and another eat, And let my products be rooted out.
9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
If my heart has been enticed by a woman, And I laid wait by the opening of my neighbor,
10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
Let my wife grind to another, And let others bend over her.
11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;
12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
For it [is] a fire, it consumes to destruction, And takes root among all my increase,
13 And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
If I despise the cause of my manservant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
14 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?
Then what do I do when God arises? And when He inspects, What do I answer Him?
15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
Did He that made me in the womb not make him? Indeed, One prepares us in the womb.
16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
If I withhold the poor from pleasure, And consume the eyes of the widow,
17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
And I eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan has nothing [to] eat of it,
18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
(But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led),
19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering for the needy,
20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He does not warm himself,
21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
If I have waved my hand at the fatherless, When I see [him] in the gate of my court,
22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
Let my shoulder fall from its blade, And the bone from my arm be broken.
23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
For calamity [from] God [is] a dread to me, And because of His excellence I am not able.
24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, My trust;
25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
If I rejoice because my wealth [is] great, And because my hand has found abundance,
26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
If I see the light when it shines, And the precious moon walking,
27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand kisses my mouth,
28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.
29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,
30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.
Indeed, I have not permitted my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.
31 And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
If not, say, O men of my tent: O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.
32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
A stranger does not lodge in the street, I open my doors to the traveler.
33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, To hide my iniquity in my bosom,
34 (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:
Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families frightens me, Then I am silent, I do not go out of the opening.
35 (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,
Who gives to me a hearing? Behold, my mark. The Mighty One answers me, And my adversary has written a bill.
36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
If not—on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it [as] a crown on myself.
37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.
38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
If my land cries out against me, And together its furrows weep,
39 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]:
If I consumed its strength without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed!” The words of Job are finished.
