Job 31  Common English Bible

31 I’ve made a covenant with my eyes;
    how could I look at a virgin?
² What is God’s portion for me^[a] from above,
    the Almighty’s inheritance from on high?
³ Isn’t it disaster for the wicked,
    destruction for workers of iniquity?
⁴ Doesn’t he see my ways,
    count all my steps?

⁵ If I have walked with frauds
        or my feet have hurried to deceit,
⁶     let him weigh me on accurate scales;
        let God know my integrity.
⁷ If my step has turned from the way,
        if my heart has followed my eyes
        or a blemish has clung to my hands,
⁸     then let me sow and another reap;
        let my offspring be uprooted.

⁹ If my heart has been drawn to a woman
        and I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰     then may my wife grind for another
        and others kneel over her;
¹¹     for that’s a crime;
        it’s a punishable offense;
¹²     indeed, it’s a fire that consumes to the underworld,^[b]
        uprooting all my harvest.

¹³ If I’ve rejected the just cause of my male or female servant
        when they contended with me,
¹⁴     what could I do when God rises;
        when he requires an account, what could I answer?
¹⁵ Didn’t the one who made me in the belly make them;
    didn’t the same one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have denied what the poor wanted,
        made a widow’s eyes tired,
¹⁷     eaten my morsel alone,
        and not shared any with an orphan
(¹⁸     for from my youth I raised the orphan as a father,
        and from my mother’s womb I led the widow);^[c]
19     if I ever saw someone dying without clothes, the needy naked;
²⁰     if they haven’t blessed me fervently,^[d]
        or if they weren’t warmed by the wool from my sheep;
²¹     if I have lifted my hand against the orphans,
        when I saw that I had help in the city gate—
²²     may my arm fall from my shoulder,
        my forearm be broken at the elbow—
²³     for God’s calamity is terror to me;
        I couldn’t endure his splendor.

²⁴ If I’ve made gold my trust,
        said to fine gold: “My security!”
²⁵     if I’ve rejoiced because my wealth was great,
        when my hand found plenty;
²⁶     if I’ve looked at the sun when it shone,
        the moon, splendid as it moved;
²⁷     and my mind has been secretly enticed,
        and threw a kiss with my hand,
²⁸     that also is a punishable offense,
        because I would then be disloyal to God above.

²⁹ If I have rejoiced over my foes’ ruin
        or was excited when evil found them,
³⁰     I didn’t let my mouth sin
        by asking for their life with a curse.
³¹ Surely those in my tent never said:
    “Who has been filled by Job’s food?”
³² A stranger didn’t spend the night in the street;
    I opened my doors to the road.

³³ If I have hidden my transgressions like Adam,^[e]
        concealing my offenses inside me
³⁴     because I feared the large crowd;
        the clan’s contempt frightened me;
    I was quiet and didn’t venture outside.

³⁵ Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
    Here’s my signature;^[f]
    let the Almighty respond,
    and let my accuser write an indictment.
³⁶ Surely I would bear it on my shoulder,
    tie it around me like a wreath.
³⁷ I would give him an account of my steps,
    approach him like a prince.

³⁸ If my land has cried out against me,
    its rows wept together;
³⁹ if I have eaten its yield without payment
        and caused its owners grief,
⁴⁰     may briars grow instead of wheat,
        poisonous weeds instead of barley.