Job 31 — MSB

31Verse 1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?^{Verse 2}For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high?^{Verse 3}Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?^{Verse 4}Does He not see my ways and count my every step?^{Verse 5}If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,^{Verse 6}let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.^{Verse 7}If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,^{Verse 8}then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.^{Verse 9}If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,^{Verse 10}then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.^{Verse 11}For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.^{Verse 12}For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest.^{Verse 13}If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,^{Verse 14}what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?^{Verse 15}Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?^{Verse 16}If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,^{Verse 17}if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—^{Verse 18}though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—^{Verse 19}if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,^{Verse 20}if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,^{Verse 21}if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,^{Verse 22}then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.^{Verse 23}For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.^{Verse 24}If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,^{Verse 25}if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,^{Verse 26}if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,^{Verse 27}so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,^{Verse 28}this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.^{Verse 29}If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—^{Verse 30}I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—^{Verse 31}if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—^{Verse 32}but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—^{Verse 33}if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,^{Verse 34}because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—^{Verse 35}(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.^{Verse 36}Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.^{Verse 37}I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—^{Verse 38}if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,^{Verse 39}if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,^{Verse 40}then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.