1I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look at a young woman?
2For what portion would God give from above? What inheritance would the Almighty send from on high?
3Is not destruction for the wicked, and strange punishment for those who do evil?
4Does he not see my ways, and count all my steps?
5If I have walked with what is false, or if my foot has hurried to deceive,
6let me be weighed in honest scales, so that God may know my integrity.
7If my step has turned out of the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any stain has stuck to my hands,
8then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my crops be rooted out.
9If my heart has been drawn away by a woman, or if I have waited in secret at my neighbour's door,
10then let my wife grind grain for another, and let others bow down upon her.
11For this is a terrible crime; yes, it is a sin for the judges to punish.
12For it is a fire that burns to destruction, and it would root out all my increase.
13If I turned away the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they brought a complaint against me,
14what then shall I do when God rises up? When he comes to examine me, what shall I answer him?
15Did not the one who made me in the womb make him also? Did not one God shape us both in the womb?
16If I have kept the poor from what they longed for, or made the eyes of the widow grow weary,
17or if I have eaten my piece of bread alone, and the fatherless has not eaten any of it
18(for from my youth the fatherless child grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I have guided the widow),
19if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing, or any poor person with nothing to cover them,
20if their body did not bless me, and they were not warmed with the wool of my sheep,
21if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw that I had support in the gate,
22then let my arm fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken off at the bone.
23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and because of his majesty I could not do such things.
24If I have made gold my hope, or have said to fine gold, "You are what I trust in,"
25if I was glad because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained so much,
26if I looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in brightness,
27and my heart was secretly drawn away, and my mouth kissed my hand,
28this also would be a sin for the judge to punish, for I would have denied the God who is above.
29If I was glad when the one who hated me was destroyed, or lifted myself up when trouble found him
30(no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his life),
31if the men of my tent did not say, "Who can find a man that has not been filled with his food?"
32The stranger did not sleep in the street, for I opened my doors to the traveller.
33If I covered my wrongdoing as Adam did, by hiding my sin in my heart,
34because I feared the great crowd, or because the scorn of families terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go out of the door -
35If only someone would listen to me! Look, here is my mark; let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write down his charge.
36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown.
37I would tell him the number of my steps; like a prince I would go up to him.
38If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together,
39if I have eaten its fruit without paying, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
40then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.