31:1 ‘I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?
31:2 What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3 Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
31:4 Does he not 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 a just balance, and let God know my integrity!—
31:7 if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands;
31:8 then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.
31:9 ‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbour’s door;
31:10 then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.
31:11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offence;
31:12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest.
31:13 ‘If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me;
31:14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
31:16 ‘If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it—
31:18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
31:19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering,
31:20 whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
31:21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate;
31:22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
31:23 For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
31:24 ‘If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;
31:25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had acquired much;
31:26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendour,
31:27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;
31:28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.
31:29 ‘If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them—
31:30 I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse—
31:31 if those of my tent ever said, “O that we might be sated with his flesh!”—
31:32 the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveller—
31:33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
31:34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
31:35 O that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 ‘If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;
31:39 if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;
31:40 let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.’ The words of Job are ended.
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