Job - Chapter 31 | American Standard Version

  • 1. I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin?
  • 2. For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
  • 3. Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
  • 4. Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?
  • 5. If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit
  • 6. (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);
  • 7. If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:
  • 8. Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
  • 9. If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;
  • 10. Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.
  • 11. For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
  • 12. For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.
  • 13. If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;
  • 14. What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
  • 15. Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
  • 16. If I have withheld the poor from {cf15i their} desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
  • 17. Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
  • 18. (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
  • 19. If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;
  • 20. If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
  • 21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:
  • 22. Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone.
  • 23. For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
  • 24. If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, {cf15i Thou art} my confidence;
  • 25. If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;
  • 26. If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,
  • 27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:
  • 28. This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.
  • 29. If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;
  • 30. (Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);
  • 31. If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?
  • 32. (The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);
  • 33. If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
  • 34. Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door -
  • 35. Oh that I had one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And {cf15i that I had} the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
  • 36. Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown:
  • 37. I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him.
  • 38. If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;
  • 39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
  • 40. Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
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