Job 31

¹I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?

²For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven?

³Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers?

⁴Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered?

⁵If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;

⁶(Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness:)

⁷If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;

⁸Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted.

⁹If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door;

¹⁰Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body.

¹¹For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges:

¹²It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce.

¹³If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;

¹⁴What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions?

¹⁵Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?

¹⁶If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose;

¹⁷If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;

¹⁸(For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)

¹⁹If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him;

²⁰If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm;

²¹If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

²²May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.

²³For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.

²⁴If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;

²⁵If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;

²⁶If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way,

²⁷A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth;

²⁸That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

²⁹If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him;

³⁰(For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;)

³¹If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat?

³²The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;

³³If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,

³⁴For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door;

³⁵If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!

³⁶Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown;

³⁷I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.

³⁸If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow;

³⁹If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;

⁴⁰Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.

Job 31

¹"I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

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

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

⁴Doesn't he see my ways, and number all my steps?

⁵"If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit

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

⁷if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

⁸then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

⁹"If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

¹²For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

¹³"If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me;

¹⁴What then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make him? Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

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

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

¹⁸(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, her have I guided from my mother's womb);

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

²⁰if his heart hasn't blessed me, if he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece;

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

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

²³For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.

²⁴"If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;'

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

²⁶if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.

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

³⁰(yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

³¹if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?'

³²(the foreigner has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

³³if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

³⁴because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door-

³⁵oh that I had one to hear me! (behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); let the accuser write my indictment!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; and I would bind it to me as a crown.

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

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

³⁹if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

⁴⁰let briars grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.