| 31:1 |
"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. |
| 31:2 |
For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? |
| 31:3 |
Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? |
| 31:4 |
Does he not see my ways and count my every step? |
| 31:5 |
"If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit-- |
| 31:6 |
let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless-- |
| 31:7 |
if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, |
| 31:8 |
then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. |
| 31:9 |
"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, |
| 31:10 |
then may my wife grind another man's grain, and may other men sleep with her. |
| 31:11 |
For that would have been shameful, a sin to be judged. |
| 31:12 |
It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest. |
| 31:13 |
"If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, |
| 31:14 |
what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? |
| 31:15 |
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? |
| 31:16 |
"If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, |
| 31:17 |
if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless-- |
| 31:18 |
but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow-- |
| 31:19 |
if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, |
| 31:20 |
and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, |
| 31:21 |
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, |
| 31:22 |
then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. |
| 31:23 |
For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things. |
| 31:24 |
"If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,' |
| 31:25 |
if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, |
| 31:26 |
if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, |
| 31:27 |
so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, |
| 31:28 |
then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. |
| 31:29 |
"If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him-- |
| 31:30 |
I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life-- |
| 31:31 |
if the men of my household have never said, 'Who has not had his fill of Job's meat?'-- |
| 31:32 |
but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler-- |
| 31:33 |
if I have concealed my sin as men do, by hiding my guilt in my heart |
| 31:34 |
because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside |
| 31:35 |
("Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense--let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. |
| 31:36 |
Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. |
| 31:37 |
I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him.)-- |
| 31:38 |
"if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, |
| 31:39 |
if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, |
| 31:40 |
then let briers come up instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended. |
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