| 1 | I Made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? |
| 2 | For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? |
| 3 | Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? |
| 4 | Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? |
| 5 | If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; |
| 6 | Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity. |
| 7 | If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands; |
| 8 | Then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out. |
| 9 | If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; |
| 10 | Then let my wife grind to another, and let others bow down upon her. |
| 11 | For this is a hainous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. |
| 12 | For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all my increase. |
| 13 | If I 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 myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it; |
| 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;) |
| 19 | If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without 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, when I saw my help in the gate: |
| 22 | Then let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade, and my arm be broken from the bone. |
| 23 | For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. |
| 24 | If I have made gold my hope, or 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 gained 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, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: |
| 28 | This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. |
| 29 | If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or have lifted up myself when evil found him: |
| 30 | Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. |
| 31 | If the men of my tabernacle have not said, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. |
| 32 | The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler. |
| 33 | If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom: |
| 34 | Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? |
| 35 | Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book. |
| 36 | Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. |
| 37 | I would declare to him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near to him. |
| 38 | If my land crieth against me, or its furrows likewise complain; |
| 39 | If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life: |
| 40 | Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. |