Job 31

1 A covenant had I made with my eyes: how then should I fix my look on a virgin?

“I made a covenant for my eyes, And how do I attend to a virgin?

2 And what then would have been my portion of God from above? and what lot of the Almighty from on high?

And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?

3 Is not calamity [ready] for the unjust? and misfortune for the wrong-doers?

Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?

4 Behold, he truly seeth my ways, and numbereth all my steps;

Does He not see my ways, And number all my steps?

5 [And knoweth] whether I have walked with vain desires, or if my foot hath hastened after deceit.

If I have walked with vanity, And my foot hurries to deceit,

6 Let him weigh me then in a righteous balance, and let God acknowledge my integrity,

He weighs me in righteous balances, And God knows my integrity.

7 If my step have turned aside from the [proper] way, and my heart have walked after my eyes, and if any blemish have cleaved to 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 another eat; and let what I have growing be rooted out.

Let me sow—and another eat, And let my products be rooted out.

9 If my heart have been beguiled toward a woman, or if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door:

If my heart has been enticed by a woman, And I laid wait by the opening of my neighbor,

10 Then may my wife labor at the mill for another, and may strangers ill-use her;

Let my wife grind to another, And let others bend over her.

11 For this would be incest; yea, it would be an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges;

For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;

12 For it would be a fire that consumeth down to the place of corruption, and would root out all my products.

For it [is] a fire, it consumes to destruction, And takes root among all my increase,

13 If ever I cast aside the justice due to my man-servant and my maid-servant, when they contended with me:

If I despise the cause of my manservant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,

14 What then could I do when God should rise up? and when he should investigate, what could I answer him?

Then what do I do when God arises? And when He inspects, What do I answer Him?

15 Did not he that made me make him born or a woman? and did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

Did He that made me in the womb not make him? Indeed, One prepares us in the womb.

16 If ever I denied the wish of the indigent, or ever allowed the eyes of the widow to fall [in vain hopes];

If I withhold the poor from pleasure, And consume the eyes of the widow,

17 Or if ever I ate my bread by myself alone, and the fatherless did not eat thereof;

And I eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan has nothing [to] eat of it,

18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as though we were of one father, and I have guided her [as though she was sprung] 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 If ever I saw any one perishing for want of clothing, or the needy without covering:

If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering for the needy,

20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he have not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He does not warm himself,

21 If I have swung my hand against the fatherless, because I saw in the gate those that would help me:

If I have waved my hand at the fatherless, When I see [him] in the gate of my court,

22 Then may my shoulder fall from my shoulder-blade, and my arm be broken from the channel-bone;

Let my shoulder fall from its blade, And the bone from my arm be broken.

23 For dreaded by me was the calamitous punishment of God, and against his highness I can accomplish nothing.

For calamity [from] God [is] a dread to me, And because of His excellence I am not able.

24 If I have made gold my confidence, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my trust:

If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, My trust;

25 If ever I rejoiced because my wealth was abundant, and because my hand had gotten much;

If I rejoice because my wealth [is] great, And because my hand has found abundance,

26 If ever I looked at the light [of the sun] when he shone brightly and on the moon walking in splendor:

If I see the light when it shines, And the precious moon walking,

27 And my heart became misled in secret, and my hand kissed my mouth:

And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand kisses my mouth,

28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for thus would I have denied the God that is above.

It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.

29 If ever I rejoiced at the downfall of him that hated me, or was elated when evil befell him; —

If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,

30 But I suffered not my mouth to sin by denouncing with a curse his soul: —

Indeed, I have not permitted my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.

31 If the men of my tent said not, Oh is there one that is not satisfied of his flesh; —

If not, say, O men of my tent: O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.

32 In the street a stranger had not to lodge; my doors I held open to the roadside;

A stranger does not lodge in the street, I open my doors to the traveler.

33 If I covered up my transgressions like a common man, by hiding in my bosom my iniquity;

If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, To hide my iniquity in my bosom,

34 Because I dreaded the great multitude, or because the contempt of families did terrify me, so that I kept silence, and dared not to go out of the door; —

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 who will bring me one that would hear me! behold, here is my plea; may the Almighty answer me; and any record which my opponent may have written, —

Who gives to me a hearing? Behold, my mark. The Mighty One answers me, And my adversary has written a bill.

36 Surely upon my shoulder would I carry it: I would bind it as a crown unto me.

If not—on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it [as] a crown on myself.

37 The number of my steps would I tell him: as [to] a prince would I go near unto him.—

The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.

38 If my land ever cried out because of me, or if its furrows wept together;

If my land cries out against me, And together its furrows weep,

39 If I ever consumed its strength without payment, or caused the soul of its owners to grieve:

If I consumed its strength without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,

40 Then may instead of wheat, thorns come forth, and instead of barley, cockle. (Here end the words of Job.)

Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed!” The words of Job are finished.