Job 31
1 “I made a covenant for my eyes, And how do I attend to a virgin?
I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin.
2 And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?
For what part should God from above have in me, and what inheritance the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them that work iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways, And number all my steps?
Doth not he consider 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, and my foot hath made haste to deceit:
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 step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart hath followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved to my hands:
8 Let me sow—and another eat, And let my products be rooted out.
Then let me sow and let another eat: and let my offspring be rooted out.
9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman, And I laid wait by the opening of my neighbor,
If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my friend’s door:
10 Let my wife grind to another, And let others bend over her.
Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie with her.
11 For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;
For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity.
12 For it [is] a fire, it consumes to destruction, And takes root among all my increase,
It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring.
13 If I despise the cause of my manservant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
If I have despised to abide judgment with my manservant, or my maidservant, when they had any controversy against me:
14 Then what do I do when God arises? And when He inspects, What do I answer Him?
For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when he shall examine, what shall I answer him?
15 Did He that made me in the womb not make him? Indeed, One prepares us in the womb.
Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: 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 to the poor what they desired, 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 alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof:
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 up 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 despised him that was perishing for want of clothing, and the poor man that had no 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 against the fatherless, even when I saw myself superior in the gate:
22 Let my shoulder fall from its blade, And the bone from my arm be broken.
Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm with 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 as waves swelling over me, and his weight I was not able to bear.
24 If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, My trust;
If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine gold: My confidence:
25 If I rejoice because my wealth [is] great, And because my hand has found abundance,
If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand had gotten much.
26 If I see the light when it shines, And the precious moon walking,
If I beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon going in brightness:
27 And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand kisses my mouth,
And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have 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 downfall of him that hated me, and have rejoiced that evil had found him.
30 Indeed, I have not permitted my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.
For I have not given my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to 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 of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give us of his flesh that we may be filled?
32 A stranger does not lodge in the street, I open my doors to the traveler.
The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the traveller.
33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, To hide my iniquity in my bosom,
If as a man I have hid 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 have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the contempt of kinsmen hath terrified me: and I have not rather held my peace, and not gone out of the door.
35 Who gives to me a hearing? Behold, my mark. The Mighty One answers me, And my adversary has written a bill.
Who would grant me a hearer, that the Almighty may hear my desire; and that he himself that judgeth would write a book,
36 If not—on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it [as] a crown on myself.
That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as a crown?
37 The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.
At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it as to a prince.
38 If my land cries out against me, And together its furrows weep,
If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof mourn:
39 If I consumed its strength without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof:
40 Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed!” The words of Job are finished.
Let thistles grow up to me instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley.
