Chapter 31

I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin?

For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?

Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?

Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?

If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit;

(Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);

If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:

Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

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

For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.

If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;

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

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

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

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

(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb);

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;

If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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

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

For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.

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

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

If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,

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

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.

If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);

If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?

(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);

If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door-

Oh 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!

Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown:

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

If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;

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

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