Job 31:1 ←
I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?
Job 31:2 ←
For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven?
Job 31:3 ←
Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers?
Job 31:4 ←
Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered?
Job 31:5 ←
If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;
Job 31:6 ←
(Let me be measured in upright scales, and let God see my righteousness:)
Job 31:7 ←
If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;
Job 31:8 ←
Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted.
Job 31:9 ←
If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door;
Job 31:10 ←
Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body.
Job 31:11 ←
For that would be a crime; it would be an act for which punishment would be measured out by the judges:
Job 31:12 ←
It would be a fire burning even to destruction, and taking away all my produce.
Job 31:13 ←
If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;
Job 31:14 ←
What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions?
Job 31:15 ←
Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?
Job 31:16 ←
If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose;
Job 31:17 ←
If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;
Job 31:18 ←
(For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)
Job 31:19 ←
If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him;
Job 31:20 ←
If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm;
Job 31:21 ←
If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;
Job 31:22 ←
May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.
Job 31:23 ←
For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.
Job 31:24 ←
If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;
Job 31:25 ←
If I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had got together a great store;
Job 31:26 ←
If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way,
Job 31:27 ←
A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth;
Job 31:28 ←
That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.
Job 31:29 ←
If I was glad at the trouble of my hater, and gave cries of joy when evil overtook him;
Job 31:30 ←
(For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;)
Job 31:31 ←
If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat?
Job 31:32 ←
The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;
Job 31:33 ←
If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,
Job 31:34 ←
For fear of the great body of people, or for fear that families might make sport of me, so that I kept quiet, and did not go out of my door;
Job 31:35 ←
If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!
Job 31:36 ←
Truly I would take up the book in my hands; it would be to me as a crown;
Job 31:37 ←
I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.
Job 31:38 ←
If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow;
Job 31:39 ←
If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;
Job 31:40 ←
Then in place of grain let thorns come up, and in place of barley evil-smelling plants.
Public Domain