Job 31:1-40 BSB

[1] “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin? [2] For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high? [3] Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? [4] Does He not see my ways and count my every step? [5] If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit, [6] let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity. [7] If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands, [8] then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. [9] If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, [10] then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her. [11] For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged. [12] For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest. [13] If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me, [14] what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account? [15] Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb? [16] If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, [17] if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless — [18] though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow — [19] if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak, [20] if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep, [21] if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate, [22] then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket. [23] For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower. [24] If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security, [25] if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much, [26] if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, [27] so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, [28] this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high. [29] If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him — [30] I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse — [31] if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’— [32] but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler — [33] if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart, [34] because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside — [35] (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment. [36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown. [37] I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)— [38] if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together, [39] if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, [40] then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.