Job 31:1-40 ASV

[1] I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin? [2] For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? [3] Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? [4] Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps? [5] If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit [6] (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity); [7] 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: [8] Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. [9] If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; [10] Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. [11] For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: [12] For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase. [13] If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me; [14] What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? [15] Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? [16] If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, [17] Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof [18] (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb); [19] If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; [20] If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep; [21] If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: [22] Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone. [23] For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing. [24] If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; [25] If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much; [26] If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness, [27] And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand: [28] This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above. [29] If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him [30] (Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse); [31] If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat? [32] (The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller); [33] If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom, [34] 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- [35] 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! [36] Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown: [37] I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him. [38] If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together; [39] If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: [40] Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.