Job 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let him weigh me then in a righteous balance, and let God acknowledge my 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 have turned aside from the [proper] way, and my heart have walked after my eyes, and if any blemish have 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 what I have growing 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 have been beguiled toward a woman, or if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door:

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

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

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

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

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

If ever I cast aside the justice due to my man-servant and my maid-servant, 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 could I do when God should rise up? and when he should investigate, what could 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 make him born or a woman? and did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

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

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

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

Or if ever I ate my bread by myself alone, and the fatherless did not eat 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 though we were of one father, and I have guided her [as though she was sprung] from my mother's womb; )

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

If ever I saw any one perishing for want of clothing, or the needy 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 have not been 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 swung my hand against the fatherless, because I saw in the gate those that would help me:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But I suffered not my mouth to sin by denouncing with a curse 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 tent said not, Oh is there one that is not satisfied of his flesh; —

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

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

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

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

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.

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; —

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

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, —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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