[1] “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. [2] For what is our lot from God above, our heritage from the Almighty on high? [3] Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? [4] Does he not see my ways and count my every step? [5] “If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit— [6] let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless— [7] if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, [8] then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. [9] “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, [10] then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her. [11] For that would have been wicked, a sin to be judged. [12] It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest. [13] “If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me, [14] what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? [15] Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? [16] “If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, [17] if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless— [18] but from my youth I reared them as a father would, and from my birth I guided the widow— [19] if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or the needy without garments, [20] and their hearts did not bless me for warming them with the fleece from my sheep, [21] if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, [22] then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. [23] For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.
