Job 31:1-28 ▼

1 I MADE a vow with my eyes that I would never lust after a virgin.

2 For what portion would I have then from God who is above, and what heritage from the Almighty who is on high?

3 For it is destruction to the wicked, and punishment to the workers of iniquity.

4 He sees my ways, and counts all my steps.

5 If I have walked with hypocrites, or if my foot hastened to deceit;

6 Let me be weighed in a just balance, that God may know my integrity.

7 I have not turned aside my steps from the way, and my heart has not followed after my eyes, and I have acquired nothing unjustly;

8 But when I sowed, then I ate, and when I planted, then I cultivated and gathered the crops.

9 And if my heart has been enticed by a strange woman, or if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;

10 Then let my wife grind for another, and let her bake bread at another man's place,

11 For this is a heinous crime; yea, such an eye devises a crafty scheme.

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

13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when he contended with me,

14 Without saying, What then shall I do when God rises up in judgment, and when he inquires, what shall I answer him?

15 (For, behold, he who made me in the womb made him, and he created us in the same womb);

16 If I have withheld the poor from his desire, or have defrauded the widow,

17 Or have eaten my bread alone, and the orphans did not eat of it

18 (Because from my youth I was brought up in sorrows, and from my mother's womb with sighing);

19 If I have seen anyone perishing for want of clothing, or any poor without covering

20 (But they were reared upon my knees, and were warmed with the fleece of my sheep);

21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless (when I saw him at the door I helped him);

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

23 For the fear of God made me to tremble, and affliction from him came upon me, and because of terror I was unable to rise up.

24 If I have made gold my trust, or said about the precious stones, You are my confidence; or have said about fine gold, You are my hope;

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

26 If I have adored the sun when it shone, or the moon when in full brightness;

27 And if my heart has been secretly enticed, if I have consented to wrongdoings;

28 Then God has seen my crafty ways, and I have lied before him.