Job 31

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

I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?

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

For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven?

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

Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers?

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

Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered?

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

If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;

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

(Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness: )

7 If my step turns aside from the way, And my heart has gone after my eyes, And blemish has cleaved to my hands,

If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;

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

Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted.

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

If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door;

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

Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body.

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

For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges:

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

It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce.

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

If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;

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

What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions?

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

Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?

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

If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose;

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

If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;

18 (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led),

(For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother; )

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

If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him;

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

If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm;

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

If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

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

May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.

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

For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.

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

If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;

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

If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;

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

If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way,

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

A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth;

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

That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

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

If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him;

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

(For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life; )

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

If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat?

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

The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;

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

If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,

34 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.

For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door;

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

If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!

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

Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown;

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

I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.

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

If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow;

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

If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;

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

Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.