| 1 | 'I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman? |
| 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 | Doesn'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); |
| 7 | If my step has turned out of the way, If my heart walked after my eyes, If any defilement has stuck to my hands, |
| 8 | Then 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 laid wait at my neighbor's door; |
| 10 | Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her. |
| 11 | For that would be a heinous crime; Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges: |
| 12 | For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my 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 rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him? |
| 15 | Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't 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 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); |
| 19 | If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; |
| 20 | If his heart hasn't blessed me, If he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece; |
| 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 my arm be broken from the bone. |
| 23 | For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of 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;' |
| 25 | If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; |
| 26 | If I have seen the sun when it shined, Or the moon moving in splendor, |
| 27 | And my heart has been secretly enticed, My hand threw a kiss from my mouth: |
| 28 | This 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); |
| 31 | If the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?' |
| 32 | (The sojourner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler); |
| 33 | If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart, |
| 34 | Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn't go out of the door-- |
| 35 | Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment! |
| 36 | Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown. |
| 37 | I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him. |
| 38 | If my land cries out against me, And the furrows of it weep together; |
| 39 | If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life: |
| 40 | Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley.' The words of Job are ended. |