Chapter 31 I have made a covenant with my eyes Why then should I look upon a young Woman For what is the allotment of God from Above and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high Is it not Destruction for the wicked and Disaster for the workers of iniquity Does he not see my ways and count all my Steps If I have walked with falsehood Or if my foot has hastened to deceit Let me be weighed on honest scales that God may know my integrity If my step has turned from the way or my Heart walked after my eyes Or if any spot adheres to my hands Then let me sow and another eat Yes let my Harvest be rooted out If my heart has been enticed by a woman Or if I have looked at my neighbor's Door Then let my wife grind for another and Let others bow down over her For that would be wickedness Yes it would be iniquity deserving of Judgment For that would be a fire that consumes To destruction and would root out all my Increase If I have despised the cause of my male Or female servant when they complained Against me
What then shall I do when God Rises up When he punishes how shall I answer him Did not he who made me in the womb make Them Did not the same one fashion Us in the Womb If I have kept the poor from their Desire or cause the eyes of the Widow to Fail Or eaten my morsel by myself so that the Fatherless could not eat of it But from my youth I reared him as a Father and from my mother's womb I Guided the Widow If I have seen anyone perish for lack of Clothing Or any Poor Man without covering If his heart has not blessed me and if He was not warmed with the fleece of my Sheep If I have raised my hand against the Fatherless when I saw I had help in the Gate Then let my arm fall from my shoulder Let my arm be torn from the socket For Destruction from God is a terror to Me And because of his magnificence I cannot Endure If I have made gold My Hope or said to Find gold you are my confidence If I have rejoiced because my wealth was Great and because my hand had gained Much
If I have observed the sun when it Shines or the moon moving in brightness So that my heart has been secretly Enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand This also would be an iniquity deserving Of judgment For I would have denied God who is above If I have rejoiced at the destruction of Him who hated me or lifted myself up When evil found him Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to Sin by asking for a curse on his soul If the men of my tent have not said who Is there that has not been satisfied With his meat But no Sojourner had to Lodge in the Street for I have opened my doors to The Traveler If I have covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom Because I feared the great multitude and Dreaded the contempt of families so that I kept silence and did not go out of the Door Oh that I had one to hear me Here is my mark Oh that the almighty would answer me That my prosecutor had written a book Surely I would carry it on my shoulder And bind it on me like a crown I would declare to him the number of my Steps Like a prince I would approach him If my land cries out against me and its
Furrows weep together If I have eaten its fruit without money Or caused its owners to lose their lives Then let thistles grow instead of wheat And weeds instead of barley The words of job are ended