Job 31

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

‘I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.

For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

For what is our lot from God above,
    our heritage from the Almighty on high?

Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

Is it not ruin for the wicked,
    disaster for those who do wrong?

Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

Does he not see my ways
    and count my every step?

If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

‘If I have walked with falsehood
    or my foot has hurried after deceit –

Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.

let God weigh me in honest scales
    and he will know that I am blameless –

If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

if my steps have turned from the path,
    if my heart has been led by my eyes,
    or if my hands have been defiled,

Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

then may others eat what I have sown,
    and may my crops be uprooted.

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;

‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
    or if I have lurked at my neighbour’s door,

Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

then may my wife grind another man’s grain,
    and may other men sleep with her.

For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

For that would have been wicked,
    a sin to be judged.

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

It is a fire that burns to Destruction;^[a]
    it would have uprooted my harvest.

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

‘If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
    whether male or female,
    when they had a grievance against me,

What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

what will I do when God confronts me?
    What will I answer when called to account?

Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

‘If I have denied the desires of the poor
    or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless –

(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)

but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow –

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without garments,

If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

and their hearts did not bless me
    for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    knowing that I had influence in court,

Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
    let it be broken off at the joint.

For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

For I dreaded destruction from God,
    and for fear of his splendour I could not do such things.

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

‘If I have put my trust in gold
    or said to pure gold, “You are my security,”

If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,
    the fortune my hands had gained,

If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

if I have regarded the sun in its radiance
    or the moon moving in splendour,

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

so that my heart was secretly enticed
    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

then these also would be sins to be judged,
    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

‘If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune
    or gloated over the trouble that came to him –

Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

I have not allowed my mouth to sin
    by invoking a curse against their life –

If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

if those of my household have never said,
    “Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?”–

The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,
    for my door was always open to the traveller –

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

if I have concealed my sin as people do,^[b]
    by hiding my guilt in my heart

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?

because I so feared the crowd
    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans
    that I kept silent and would not go outside –

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

(‘Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
    I sign now my defence – let the Almighty answer me;
    let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,
    I would put it on like a crown.

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

I would give him an account of my every step;
    I would present it to him as to a ruler.) –

If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

‘if my land cries out against me
    and all its furrows are wet with tears,

If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

if I have devoured its yield without payment
    or broken the spirit of its tenants,

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

then let briers come up instead of wheat
    and stinkweed instead of barley.’