The Book of Job

31: 1I made a covenant with mine eyes;

 How then should I look upon a virgin?

 ^31:2For what is the portion from God above,

 And the heritage from the Almighty on high?

 ^31:3Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,

 And disaster to the workers of iniquity?

 ^31:4Doth not he see my ways,

 And number all my steps?
 
 

 ^31:5If I have walked with falsehood,

 And my foot hath hasted to deceit

 ^31:6(Let me be weighed in an even balance,

 That God may know mine integrity);

 ^31:7If my step hath turned out of the way,

 And my heart walked after mine eyes,

 And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:

 ^31:8Then let me sow, and let another eat;

 Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
 
 

 ^31:9If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman,

 And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

 ^31:10Then let my wife grind unto another,

 And let others bow down upon her.

 ^31:11For that were a heinous crime;

 Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

 ^31:12For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction,

 And would root out all mine increase.

 ^31:13If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,

 When they contended with me;

 ^31:14What then shall I do when God riseth up?

 And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

 ^31:15Did not he that made me in the womb make him?

 And did not one fashion us in the womb?

 ^31:16If I have withheld the poor from their desire,

 Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

 ^31:17Or have eaten my morsel alone,

 And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof

 ^31:18(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,

 And her have I guided from my mother's womb);

 ^31:19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,

 Or that the needy had no covering;

 ^31:20If his loins have not blessed me,

 And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

 ^31:21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,

 Because I saw my help in the gate:

 ^31:22Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,

 And mine arm be broken from the bone.

 ^31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me,

 And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
 
 

 ^31:24If I have made gold my hope,

 And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

 ^31:25If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

 And because my hand had gotten much;

 ^31:26If I have beheld the sun when it shined,

 Or the moon walking in brightness,

 ^31:27And my heart hath been secretly enticed,

 And my mouth hath kissed my hand:

 ^31:28This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

 For I should have denied the God that is above.

 ^31:29If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,

 Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

 ^31:30(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin

 By asking his life with a curse);

 ^31:31If the men of my tent have not said,

 Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?

 ^31:32(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street;

 But I have opened my doors to the traveller);

 ^31:33If like Adam I have covered my transgressions,

 By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

 ^31:34Because I feared the great multitude,

 And the contempt of families terrified me,

 So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door-

 ^31:35Oh 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!

 ^31:36Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;

 I would bind it unto me as a crown:

 ^31:37I would declare unto him the number of my steps;

 As a prince would I go near unto him.

 ^31:38If my land crieth out against me,

 And the furrows thereof weep together;

 ^31:39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,

 Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

 ^31:40Let thistles grow instead of wheat,

 And cockle instead of barley.

The words of Job are ended.