Job 31

1I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look with desire at a young woman? 2For what portion does God above assign, what inheritance does the Almighty give from on high? 3Is it not ruin for the unrighteous, and disaster for those who do evil? 4Does he not see my ways and count every step I take? 5If I have walked with falsehood, or my foot has hurried after deceit, 6let him weigh me on honest scales, and let God know my integrity. 7If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if any stain has clung to my hands, 8then let me sow and another eat, and let my crops be uprooted. 9If my heart has been lured by a woman, or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, 10then let my wife grind grain for another man, and let other men lie with her. 11For that would be a shameful crime, a wrong to be punished by the judges. 12It is a fire that burns all the way to Abaddon, and it would root out all my harvest. 13If I have refused justice to my male or female servants when they brought a complaint against me, 14what would I do when God rises up? When he calls me to account, what answer would I give him? 15Did not the one who made me in the womb make them too? Did not the same God form us both in the womb? 16If I have refused the poor what they longed for, or let the widow’s eyes grow weary with waiting, 17or eaten my bread alone, and not shared it with the orphan, 18for from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I have guided the widow; 19if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing, or the needy with nothing to cover them, 20if their bodies have not blessed me because they were warmed with the fleece of my sheep, 21if I have raised my hand against the orphan because I saw I had support at the city gate, 22then let my shoulder fall from its blade, and let my arm be broken off at the socket. 23For I dreaded disaster from God, and because of his majesty I could not do such things. 24If I have put my confidence in gold, or said to fine gold, “You are my security,” 25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gained so much, 26if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in its splendor, 27and my heart has been secretly enticed, so that I threw them a kiss with my hand, 28this too would be a crime to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above. 29If I have rejoiced at the ruin of someone who hated me, or gloated when disaster overtook them, 30I have not let my mouth sin by calling down a curse on their life. 31If the people of my household have not said, “Who has not had their fill of his meat?” 32No outsider had to spend the night in the street, for I opened my doors to the traveler. 33If I have concealed my transgressions as people do, by hiding my guilt in my heart, 34because I feared the great crowd and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept quiet and would not go out of my door— 35Oh, that I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! If only I had the charge my accuser has written! 36I would surely carry it on my shoulder; I would wear it like a crown. 37I would give him an account of every step I have taken; like a prince I would come near to him. 38If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together, 39if I have eaten its yield without payment, or made its owners breathe their last, 40then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.