Job 31:5-40 ▼

5 If I have walked with vanity, And my foot hath hasted to deceit--

6 Let me be weighed in a just balance, That God may know mine integrity--

7 If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands;

8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

9 If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, And I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;

10 Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.

11 For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

12 For it is a fire that consumeth unto destruction, And would root out all mine increase.

13 If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, Or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me--

14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when He remembereth, 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 aught that the poor desired, 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 Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And I have been her guide from my mother's womb.

19 If I have seen any wanderer in want of clothing, Or that the needy had no 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, Because I saw my help in the gate;

22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone.

23 For calamity from God was a terror to me, And by reason of His majesty I could do nothing.

24 If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold: 'Thou art my confidence';

25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my 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, And my mouth hath kissed my hand;

28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have lied to God that is above.

29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or exulted when evil found him--

30 Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse.

31 If the men of my tent said not: 'Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat?'

32 The stranger did not lodge in the street; My doors I opened to the roadside.

33 If after the manner of men I covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom--

34 Because I feared the great multitude, And the most contemptible among families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door.

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!

36 Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown.

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 out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;

39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the tillers thereof to be disappointed--

40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And noisome weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.