Job
31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes.+
So how could I show improper attention to a virgin?+
2 What, then, would be my share from God above,
What inheritance from the Almighty on high?
5 Have I ever walked in untruth?*
Has my foot hurried to deceive?+
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,
What can I answer him when he calls for an accounting?+
15 Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them?+
Was it not the same One who formed us before our birth?*+
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,
19 If I saw anyone perishing for lack of clothing
Or a poor man with nothing to cover himself;+
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.
25 If I found my joy in my great wealth+
Because of the many possessions I acquired;+
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.
31 Have the men of my tent not said,
‘Who can find anyone who has not been satisfied with his food?’*+
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?
35 If only someone would listen to me!+
I would sign my name to what I have said.*
Let the Almighty answer me!+
If only my accuser had written out the charges in a document!
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.”
The words of Job end here.