Job, 31

1. I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

1. I have made a covenant with my eyes not even to gaze at a virgin.

2. For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

2. For what is man's lot from God on high, his heritage from the Almighty above?

3. [Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?

3. Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for the wrongdoer?

4. Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

4. Does he not see my ways and number all my steps?

5. If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

5. Have I walked in falsehood? Have my feet hastened towards deceit?

6. Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

6. Let me be weighed in honest scales, that God may know I am guiltless.

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;

7. If my steps have turned from the way and my heart's desire has gone astray, if my hands have been stained,

8. [Then] let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

8. then may others eat what I have sown, or may my crops be stricken down.

9. If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;

9. If I have been enticed by a woman, if I have lurked at my neighbor's door,

10. [Then] let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

10. then may my wife grind for another, and may other men sleep with her.

11. For this [is] an heinous crime; yea, it [is] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges.

11. (For that is enough to make one ashamed, a crime that should be utterly condemned.)

12. For it [is] a fire [that] consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

12. For it is a fire that burns to destruction; it would have consumed all my possessions.

13. If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

13. If I have denied justice to my servants when they had a grievance against me,

14. What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

14. what would I do when confronted by God? What would I answer when called to account?

15. Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

15. No less than I, they too were formed in the womb by the same God who formed us all within our mothers.

16. If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

16. Have I denied anything to the poor, or allowed the widow's eyes to languish?

17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

17. Have I eaten my food alone, not sharing it with the fatherless?

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;)

18. No! since youth I have fostered him, and from my mother's womb, I have guided the widow.

19. If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

19. Have I seen a man cold and shivering, destitute, in need of clothing,

20. If his loins have not blessed me, and [if] he were [not] warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

20. who did not bless me from his heart for giving him the warmth of my fleece?

21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

21. If I have raised my hand against the orphan, trusting in my power and influence,

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

22. then let my shoulder fall from its socket, let my arm be broken at the joint.

23. For destruction [from] God [was] a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

23. For I feared God-sent calamity, and how could I stand in his presence?

24. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;

24. If I have put my trust in gold or have sought my security from it,

25. If I rejoiced because my wealth [was] great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

25. if I have gloated over my wealth, my fortune and accomplishments,

26. If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;

26. if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon in its splendor,

27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

27. and having been enticed offered them a kiss of my hand in homage,

28. This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.

28. then these also would be sins to judge for I would have been unfaithful to God.

29. If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

29. Have I rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over disaster that came his way?

30. Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

30. I have not even allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against him.

31. If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

31. Those of my household used to say, "Who has not been fed with Job's meat?"

32. The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveller.

32. No sojourner ever spent the night in the street, for my door was always open to wayfarers.

33. If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

33. Have I, out of human weakness, hidden my sins and concealed guilt in my heart,

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?

34. keeping silent by myself, because I feared the crowd and their contempt?

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.

35. Oh, that I had someone to hear me! Let the Almighty answer! This is my plea. Let my accuser write his indictment

36. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] a crown to me.

36. and I will wear it on my shoulder, or bind it round my head like a turban.

37. I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

37. I would give him an account of my every step, and go as boldly as a prince to meet him. This is the end of the words of Job.

38. If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

38. If my land has cried against me and its furrows wept

39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

39. because I have eaten its fruits unjustly after getting rid of its owners,

40. Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

40. let thorns grow instead of wheat and weeds in the place of barley.