1 “ I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

2 F or what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 I s it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

4 D oesn’t he see my ways, and number all my steps?

5 “ If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit

6 ( let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);

7 i f my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

8 t hen let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

9 “ If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,

10 t hen let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

11 F or that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

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

13 “ If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me;

14 W hat then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him?

15 D idn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t 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 o r have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 ( no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, her have I guided from my mother’s womb);

19 i f I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

20 i f his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

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

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

23 F or calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.

24 “ If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’

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

26 i f I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,

27 a nd my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

28 t his also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.

29 “ If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him;

30 ( yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

31 i f the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’

32 ( the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

33 i f like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34 b ecause I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—

35 o h that I had one to hear me! (behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); let the accuser write my indictment!

36 S urely I would carry it on my shoulder; and I would bind it to me as a crown.

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

38 I f my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;

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

40 l et briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.