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.
