The Book of Job (WEB)

31: 1"I made a covenant with my eyes,
      How then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

 ^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?

 ^31:4Doesn't he see my ways,
      And number all my steps?

  ^31:5"If I have walked with falsehood,
      And my foot has hurried to deceit

 ^31:6(Let me be weighed in an even balance,
      That God may know my integrity);

 ^31:7If my step has turned out of the way,
      If my heart walked after my eyes,
      If any defilement has stuck to my hands,

 ^31:8Then let me sow, and let another eat;
      Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

  ^31:9"If my heart has been enticed to a woman,
      And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

 ^31:10Then let my wife grind for another,
      And let others sleep with her.

 ^31:11For that would be a heinous crime;
      Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

 ^31:12For it is a fire that consumes to destruction,
      And would root out all my increase.

  ^31:13"If 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 rises up?
      When he visits, what shall I answer him?

 ^31:15Didn't he who made me in the womb make him?
      Didn't one fashion us in the womb?

  ^31:16"If 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 has not eaten of it

 ^31:18(No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
      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 heart hasn't blessed me,
      If he hasn't been warmed with my sheep's fleece;

 ^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 my arm be broken from the bone.

 ^31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me,
      By reason of his majesty I can do nothing.

 
      ^31:24"If I have made gold my hope,
      And have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;'

 ^31:25If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
      And because my hand had gotten much;

 ^31:26If I have seen the sun when it shined,
      Or the moon moving in splendor,

 ^31:27And my heart has been secretly enticed,
      My hand threw a kiss from my mouth:

 ^31:28This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
      For I should have denied the God who is above.

  ^31:29"If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
      Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

 ^31:30(Yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
      By asking his life with a curse);

 ^31:31If the men of my tent have not said,
      'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?'

 ^31:32(The sojourner has not lodged in the street;
      But I have opened my doors to the traveler);

 ^31:33If like Adam I have covered my transgressions,
      By hiding my iniquity in my heart,

 ^31:34Because 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--

 ^31:35Oh that I had one to hear me!
      (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me);
      Let the accuser write my indictment!

 ^31:36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
      And I would bind it to me as a crown.

 ^31:37I would declare to him the number of my steps.
      As a prince would I go near to him.

 ^31:38If my land cries out against me,
      And the furrows of it weep together;

 ^31:39If I have eaten the fruits of it without money,
      Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life:

 ^31:40Let briars grow instead of wheat,
      And stinkweed instead of barley."

The words of Job are ended.

World English Bible