1“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? (Isa 33:15; Mt 5:28)2What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high? (Job 20:29)3Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?4Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? (2Ch 16:9; Job 14:16; Job 34:21; Pr 5:21; Pr 15:3; Jer 16:17; Jer 32:19; Zec 4:10)5“If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;6(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) (Da 5:27)7if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, (Nu 15:39; Job 11:15; Ec 11:9)8then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me[1] be rooted out. (Le 26:16; De 28:30; De 28:38; Joh 4:37)9“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, (Job 24:15)10then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her. (Ex 11:5; 2Sa 12:11; Isa 47:2; Jer 8:10)11For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; (Le 20:10; De 22:22; Job 31:28)12for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase. (Pr 6:27)13“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,14what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? (Ps 17:3)15Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? (Job 34:19; Pr 14:31; Pr 22:2; Eph 6:9)16“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, (Job 11:20; Job 17:5; Job 22:7)17or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it18(for from my youth the fatherless[2] grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow[3]),19if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, (Job 24:7; Job 24:10; Job 29:13)20if his body has not blessed me,[4] and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, (De 24:13; Job 29:13)21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, (Job 5:4; Job 22:9)22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.23For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty. (Job 13:11)24“If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, (Job 4:6; Job 28:16; Mr 10:24)25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, (De 8:17; Ps 62:10)26if I have looked at the sun[5] when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, (De 4:19; De 17:3; 2Ki 23:5; 2Ki 23:11; Jer 44:17; Eze 8:16)27and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,28this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above. (Job 31:11)29“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him (Pr 17:5)30(I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse), (Mt 5:44; Ro 12:14)31if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’ (Ex 16:12; 1Sa 25:11)32(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler), (Ge 19:2; Jud 19:20; Mt 25:35; Heb 13:2)33if I have concealed my transgressions as others do[6] by hiding my iniquity in my heart, (Ge 3:8; Ge 3:12; Pr 28:13)34because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors— (Ex 23:2)35Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! (Job 13:22; Job 19:23)36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown; (Pr 6:21; Isa 9:6; Isa 22:22; Zec 6:11)37I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.38“If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,39if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last, (1Ki 21:16; 1Ki 21:19; Job 22:6; Lu 10:7; 2Ti 2:6; Jas 5:4)40let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended. (Ge 3:18)