Job 31
1 I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look with desire on a virgin?
I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
2 For what is the portion from God above, the inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
3 I used to think that calamity is for unrighteous people, and that disaster is for doers of wickedness.
Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
4 Does not God see my ways and count all my steps?
Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
5 If I have walked with falsehood, if my foot has hurried 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 so that God will know my integrity.
(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
7 If my step has turned aside from the way, if my heart has gone after my eyes, if any spot has stuck to my 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, and let my crops be uprooted.
then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
9 If my heart has been deceived by a woman, if I have lain in wait at my neighbor'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 grain for another, and let others bow down on her.
then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
11 For that would be a terrible crime; indeed, it would be a crime to be punished by judges.
For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
12 For that is a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn all my harvest to the root.
For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
13 If I ignored the plea for justice from my male or female servant when they argued with me,
And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
14 what then would I do when God rises up to accuse me? When he comes to judge me, how would 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 the one who made me in the womb not make them also? Did not the same one mold us all in the womb?
Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
16 If I have withheld poor people from their desire, or if I have caused the eyes of the widow to grow dim from crying,
But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
17 or if I have eaten my morsel alone and not allowed those without fathers to eat it also—
And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
18 because from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided his mother, a widow, from my own 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 anyone perish for lack of clothing, or if I have seen that a needy man had no clothing;
And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
20 if his heart has not blessed me because he has not been warmed with the wool 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 fatherless people because I saw my support in the city gate, then bring charges against me!
if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
22 If I have done these things, then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and let my arm be broken from its joint.
let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
23 For I dreaded destruction from God; because of his majesty, I was not able to do those things.
For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
24 If I have made gold my hope, and if I have said to fine gold, 'You are what I am confident in';
If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gotten many possessions, then bring charges against me!
and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
26 If I have seen the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in its brightness,
(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
27 and if my heart has been secretly attracted, so that my mouth has kissed my hand in worship of them—
and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
28 this also would be a crime to be punished by judges, for I would have denied the God who 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 have rejoiced at the destruction of anyone who hated me or congratulated myself when disaster overtook him, then bring charges against me!
And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
30 Indeed, I have not even allowed my mouth to sin by asking for 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 have never said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with Job's food?'
And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
32 (even the foreigner has never had to stay in the city square, because I have always opened my doors to the traveler), and if that is not so, then bring charges against me!
for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
33 If, like mankind, I have hidden my sins by hiding my guilt inside my tunic
or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
34 (because I feared the great multitude, because the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside), then bring charges against me!
(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, if only I had someone to hear me! See, here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! If only I had the indictment that my opponent has 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 openly on my shoulder; I would put it on like a crown.
I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
37 I would declare to him an accounting for my steps; as a confident prince I would go up to him.
And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
38 If my land ever cries out against me, and its furrows weep together,
If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
39 if I have eaten its harvest without paying for it or have caused its owners to lose their lives,
and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [anything] from [him]:
40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are finished.
then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
