Read the Bible

¹‘I have made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I look upon a virgin?

²What would be my portion from God above,

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Does not calamity befall the unrighteous,

and disaster the workers of iniquity?

⁴Does he not see my ways,

and number all my steps?

⁵‘If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hurried to deceit—

⁶let me be weighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!—

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way,

and my heart has followed my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands;

⁸then let me sow, and another eat;

and let what grows for me be rooted out.

⁹‘If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be a criminal offence;

¹²for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my harvest.

¹³‘If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,

when they brought a complaint against me;

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶‘If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the orphan has not eaten from it—

¹⁸for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,

and from my mother's womb I guided the widow —

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor person without covering,

²⁰whose loins have not blessed me,

and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan,

because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

²³For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴‘If I have made gold my trust,

or called fine gold my confidence;

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

or because my hand had acquired much;

²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone,

or the moon moving in splendour,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I should have been false to God above.

²⁹‘If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook them—

³⁰I have not let my mouth sin

by asking for their lives with a curse—

³¹if those of my tent ever said,

“O that we might be sated with his flesh!” —

³²the stranger has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveller—

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

³⁵O that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)

O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸‘If my land has cried out against me,

and its furrows have wept together;

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment,

and caused the death of its owners;

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.’

The words of Job are ended.