Job 31 — ASVBT

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