1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

2 F or what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

3 I s not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

4 D oth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

5 I f I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

6 l et me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

7 I f my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

8 t hen let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

9 I f mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

10 t hen let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

11 F or this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

12 F or it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

13 I f I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

14 w hat then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

15 D id not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 I f I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

17 o r have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

18 ( for from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)

19 i f I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

20 i f his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 i f I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

22 t hen let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

23 F or destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

24 I f I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

25 i f I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

26 i f I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

27 a nd my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

28 t his also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

29 I f I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

30 n either have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

31 I f the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

32 T he stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

33 I f I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

34 d id I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

35 O h that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

36 S urely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

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

38 I f my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

39 i f I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

40 l et thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.