Job 31

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

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

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

For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of 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 a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?

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

Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

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

If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

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

Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

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 mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

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

[Then] let me sow, and let another eat; yea, 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 mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

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

[Then] let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

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

For this [is] an heinous crime; yea, it [is] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges.

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

For it [is] a fire [that] consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

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

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

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

What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, 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? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

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

If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

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

Or have eaten my morsel myself 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 youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb; )

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

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

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

If his loins 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, when I saw my help in the gate:

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

[Then] let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

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

For destruction [from] God [was] a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

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

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;

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

If I rejoiced because my wealth [was] great, and because mine 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, or the moon walking [in] brightness;

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

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

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

This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.

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

If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

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

Neither have I suffered 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 said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

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

The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveller.

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

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine 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.

Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, [and] went not 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.

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] mine adversary had written a book.

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

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] a crown to me.

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

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

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

If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

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, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

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 instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.