Job 31

1 A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what — do I attend to a virgin?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 He doth weigh me in righteous balances, And God doth know my integrity.

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

7 If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,

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

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

9 If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,

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

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

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

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

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

12 For a fire it [is], to destruction it consumeth, And among all mine increase doth take root,

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

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

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

14 Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do 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? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.

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

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

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

17 And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,

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

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

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

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 from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself,

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

21 If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in [him] the gate of my court,

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

22 My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken.

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

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

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 confidence, And to the pure gold have said, 'My trust,'

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

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

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

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

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

27 And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand doth kiss my mouth,

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

28 It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God 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 rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred 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 have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.

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

31 If not — say ye, O men of my tent, 'O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.'

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

32 In the street doth not lodge a stranger, My doors to the traveller I open.

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

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

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

34 Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families doth affright me, Then I am silent, I go not out of the opening.

(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 Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary 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 If not — on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! 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.