Job 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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;

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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