| 1 | I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin? |
| 2 | For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? |
| 3 | Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? |
| 4 | Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps? |
| 5 | If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit |
| 6 | (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity); |
| 7 | If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands: |
| 8 | Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. |
| 9 | If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; |
| 10 | Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. |
| 11 | For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: |
| 12 | For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase. |
| 13 | If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me; |
| 14 | What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? |
| 15 | Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not 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, |
| 17 | Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof |
| 18 | (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb); |
| 19 | If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; |
| 20 | If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been 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: |
| 22 | Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone. |
| 23 | For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing. |
| 24 | If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence; |
| 25 | If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; |
| 26 | If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness, |
| 27 | And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand: |
| 28 | This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above. |
| 29 | If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him; |
| 30 | (Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse); |
| 31 | If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat? |
| 32 | (The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller); |
| 33 | If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine 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- |
| 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! |
| 36 | Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown: |
| 37 | I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him. |
| 38 | If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together; |
| 39 | If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: |
| 40 | Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. |