Job 31
1 I MADE a covenant with mine eyes; how then should I look upon a maid?
I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.
2 For what [is] the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high?
For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?
3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?
Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, and my foot hath hasted to deceit;
If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
6 (Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity; )
let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.
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 steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.
9 If mine heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door:
If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
11 For that were an heinous crime; yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me:
If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Is 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?
16 If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;
17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;
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 from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;
if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate:
if 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;
22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.
23 For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I could do nothing.
For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.
24 If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;
If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, and my mouth hath kissed my hand:
so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: for I should have lied to God that is above.
which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him;
if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,
30 (Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse; )
for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
31 If the men of my tent said not, Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his flesh?
if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened my doors to the traveller;
for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;
33 If like Adam I covered my transgressions, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom;
if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
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—
if 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;
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!
then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,
36 Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown.
which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.
38 If my land cry out against me, and the furrows thereof weep together;
So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)
