Job 31

1 I MADE a covenant with mine eyes; how then should I look upon a maid?

I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.

2 For what [is] the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?

3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.

4 Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?

Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?

5 If I have walked with vanity, and my foot hath hasted to deceit;

But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:

6 (Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity; )

(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )

7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any spot hath cleaved to mine hands:

if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;

8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.

9 If mine heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door:

If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

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

then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.

11 For that were an heinous crime; yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.

12 For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.

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

And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;

14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?

15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.

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

But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.

17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;

18 (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have been her guide from my mother’s womb; )

(for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)

19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;

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

and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate:

if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:

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

let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.

23 For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I could do nothing.

For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I cannot bear up by reason of his burden.

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

If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;

25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:

26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )

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

and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:

28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: for I should have lied to God that is above.

let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.

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

And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!

30 (Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse; )

let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.

31 If the men of my tent said not, Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his flesh?

And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:

32 The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveller;

for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )

33 If like Adam I covered my transgressions, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom;

or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;

34 Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door—

(for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them: ) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:

35 Oh that I had one to hear me! (lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me; ) and [that I had] the indictment which mine adversary hath written!

(Oh that I had a hearer, ) and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,

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

I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.

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

And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:

38 If my land cry out against me, and the furrows thereof weep together;

If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;

39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [aught] from [him]:

40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.