Job 31

¹I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

²For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

³Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

⁴Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?

⁵If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

⁶let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

⁷If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,

⁸then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

⁹If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

¹⁰then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

¹¹For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

¹²It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

¹³If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

¹⁴then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

¹⁵Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?

¹⁶If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

¹⁷if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

¹⁸(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)

¹⁹if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

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

²¹if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;

²²then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

²³For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

²⁴If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

²⁵if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

²⁶if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,

²⁷so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

²⁸which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

²⁹if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

³⁰for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

³¹if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”

³²for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

³³if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

³⁴if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;

³⁵then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,

³⁶which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

³⁷With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

³⁸So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

³⁹if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,

⁴⁰then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)

Job 31

¹I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

²For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

³Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

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

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

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

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

⁸Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

⁹If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

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

¹¹For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁸(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)

¹⁹If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

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

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

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

²³For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

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

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

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

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

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

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

³⁰Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

³¹If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

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

³³If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

³⁴Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

³⁵Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

³⁶Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

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

³⁸If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

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

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