31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I
will not think upon a virgin.
31:2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance
[given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
31:3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do
iniquity.
31:4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
31:5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to
deceit:
31:6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence:)
31:7 if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has
followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;
31:8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the
earth.
31:9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait
at her doors;
31:10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought
low.
31:11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of
defiling [another] man's wife.
31:12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it
utterly destroys.
31:13 And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid,
when they pleaded with me;
31:14 what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should
at all visit me, can I make an answer?
31:15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we
were formed in the same womb.
31:16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not
cause the eye of the widow to fail.
31:17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the
orphan;
31:18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them]
from my mother's womb.)
31:19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not
clothe him;
31:20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not]
warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
31:21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was
far superior [to his]:
31:22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed
off from the elbow.
31:23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I cannot bear up by
reason of his burden.
31:24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
31:25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid
my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
31:26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they
have not [power to continue]:)
31:27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon
my mouth and kissed it:
31:28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I
[should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
31:29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart
said, Aha!
31:30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my
people in my affliction.
31:31 Ad if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied
with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
31:32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to
every one that came:)
31:33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
31:34 (for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare
boldly before them:) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door
with an empty bosom:
31:35 (Oh that I had a hearer,) and if I had not feared the hand of the
Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,
31:36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
31:37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the
debtor:
31:38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned
together;
31:39 and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved
the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [aught] from [him]:
31:40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble
instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking. |
31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why
then should I think upon a maid?
31:2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of
the Almighty from on high?
31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the
workers of iniquity?
31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
31:7 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;
31:8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted
out.
31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at
my neighbour's door;
31:10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
31:11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by
the judges.
31:12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all
mine increase.
31:13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when
they contended with me;
31:14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what
shall I answer him?
31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion
us in the womb?
31:16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes
of the widow to fail;
31:17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not
eaten thereof;
31:18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I
have guided her from my mother's womb;)
31:19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without
covering;
31:20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the
fleece of my sheep;
31:21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help
in the gate:
31:22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken
from the bone.
31:23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his
highness I could not endure.
31:24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art
my confidence;
31:25 If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had
gotten much;
31:26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
31:27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my
hand:
31:28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should
have denied the God that is above.
31:29 If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up
myself when evil found him:
31:30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his
soul.
31:31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we
cannot be satisfied.
31:32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the
traveller.
31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my
bosom:
31:34 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?
31:35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty
would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
31:36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
31:37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I
go near unto him.
31:38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof
complain;
31:39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the
owners thereof to lose their life:
31:40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The
words of Job are ended. |