Job

 2 What, then, would be my share from God above,

What inheritance from the Almighty on high?

 3 Does not disaster await the wrongdoer

And calamity those doing what is harmful?+

 4 Does he not see my ways+

And count all my steps?

 6 Let God weigh me with accurate scales;+

Then he will recognize my integrity.+

 7 If my footsteps deviate from the way+

Or my heart has followed after my eyes+

Or my hands have been defiled,

 8 Then let me sow seed and someone else eat,+

And let what I plant be uprooted.*

 9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman+

And I have lain in wait+ at my neighbor’s door,

10 Then let my wife grind grain for another man,

And let other men have sexual relations with her.*+

11 For that would be shameful conduct,

An error deserving punishment by the judges.+

12 It would be a fire that would devour and destroy,*+

Consuming even the roots of* all my produce.

13 If I denied justice to my male or female servants

When they had a complaint* against me,

14 What can I do when God confronts me?*

16 If I refused to give the poor what they desired+

Or saddened the eyes of the widow;*+

17 If I ate my portion of food alone

Without sharing it with the orphans;+

18 (For from my youth the orphan* grew up with me as though I were his father,

And I have been a guide for the widow* from childhood.*)

19 If I saw anyone perishing for lack of clothing

Or a poor man with nothing to cover himself;+

20 If he* did not bless me+

As he warmed himself with the wool of my sheep;

21 If I shook my fist against the orphan+

When he needed my assistance in the city gate;*+

22 Then let my arm* fall from my shoulder,

And let my arm be broken at the elbow.*

23 For I dreaded disaster from God,

And I could not stand before his dignity.

24 If I put my confidence in gold

Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my security!’+

25 If I found my joy in my great wealth+

Because of the many possessions I acquired;+

26 If I saw the sun* shining

Or the moon moving in its splendor;+

27 And my heart was secretly enticed,

And my mouth kissed my hand in worship of them;+

28 Then that would be an error deserving punishment by the judges,

For I would have denied the true God above.

29 Have I ever rejoiced over the destruction of my enemy+

Or gloated because evil befell him?

30 I never allowed my mouth to sin

By asking for his life* in an oath.+

31 Have the men of my tent not said,

‘Who can find anyone who has not been satisfied with his food?’*+

32 No stranger* had to spend the night outside;+

I opened my doors to the traveler.

33 Have I ever tried to cover over my transgressions, like other men,+

By hiding my error in the pocket of my garment?

34 Have I been in fear of the reaction of the multitude,

Or have I been terrified by the contempt of other families,

Making me silent and afraid to go outside?

36 I would carry it on my shoulder,

And I would bind it around my head like a crown.

37 I would give him an accounting for every step I took;

I would approach him confidently, like a prince.

38 If my own ground would cry out against me

And its furrows would weep together;

39 If I have eaten its fruitage without payment,+

Or if I have caused its owners* to despair;+

40 Then let thorns sprout for me instead of wheat

And foul-smelling weeds instead of barley.”