1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then
should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance
of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a
strange punishment to
the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to
deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine
integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked
after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea,
let my offspring be rooted out.
9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have
laid wait at my neighbour's door;
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and
let others bow down upon her.
11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an
iniquity to be punished by the
judges.
12 For it is a fire that consumeth
to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my
maidservant, when they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he
visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not
one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless
hath not eaten thereof;
18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a
father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor
without covering;
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he
were not warmed
with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I
saw my help in the gate:
22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder
blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his
highness I could not endure.
24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my
confidence;
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
and because mine hand had gotten much;
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath
kissed my hand:
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the
judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or
lifted up myself when evil found him:
30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse
to his soul.
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his
flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I
opened my doors to the traveller.
33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine
iniquity in my bosom:
34 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?
35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the
Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind
it as a crown
to me.
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince
would I go near unto him.
38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise
thereof complain;
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have
caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of
barley. The words of Job are ended.
