Chapter 31

I Made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

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

Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity.

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

Then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out.

If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

Then let my wife grind to another, and let others bow down upon her.

For this is a hainous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

If I despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me;

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

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

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

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;

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

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

If his loins have not blessed me, and if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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

Then let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

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

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

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much;

If I have beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

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

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

Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

If the men of my tabernacle have not said, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.

If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:

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

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

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

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

If my land crieth against me, or its furrows likewise complain;

If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life:

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.