Job 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

⁸ Let me sow — and another eat, And my products let be rooted out.

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁴ Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him?

¹⁵ Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.

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

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

¹⁸ (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)

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

²⁰ If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself,

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

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

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

²⁴ If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, ‘My trust,’

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

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

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

²⁸ It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.

²⁹ If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,

³⁰ Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.

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

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

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

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.

³⁵ Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.

³⁶ If not — on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself.

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

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

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

⁴⁰ Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! The words of Job are finished.