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31:1  I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?
31:2  For what portion should I have from God above [if I were lewd], and what heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3  Does not calamity [justly] befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
31:4  Does not [God] see my ways and count all my steps?
31:5  If I have walked with falsehood or vanity, or if my foot has hastened to deceit—
31:6  Oh, let me be weighed in a just balance and let Him weigh me, that God may know my integrity!
31:7  If my step has turned out of [God’s] way, and my heart has gone the way my eyes [covetously] invited, and if any spot has stained my hands with guilt,
31:8  Then let me sow and let another eat; yes, let the produce of my field or my offspring be rooted out.
31:9  If my heart has been deceived and I made a fool by a woman, or if I have [covetously] laid wait at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],
31:10  Then let my wife grind [meal, like a bondslave] for another, and let others bow down upon her.
31:11  For [adultery] is a heinous and chief crime, an iniquity [to demand action by] the judges and punishment.
31:12  For [uncontrolled passion] is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (to destruction, ruin, and the place of final torment); [that fire once lighted would rage until all is consumed] and would burn to the root all my [life’s] increase.
31:13  If I have despised and rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they contended or brought a complaint against me,
31:14  What then shall I do when God rises up [to judge]? When He visits [to inquire of me], what shall I answer Him?
31:15  Did not He Who made me in the womb make [my servant]? And did not One fashion us both in the womb?
31:16  If I have withheld from the poor and needy what they desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],
31:17  Or have eaten my morsel alone and have not shared it with the fatherless—
31:18  No, but from my youth [the fatherless] grew up with me as a father, and I have been [the widow’s] guide from my mother’s womb—
31:19  If I have seen anyone perish for want of clothing, or any poor person without covering,
31:20  If his loins have not blessed me [for clothing them], and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
31:21  If I have lifted my hand against the fatherless when I saw [that the judges would be favorable and be] my help at the [council] gate,
31:22  Then let my shoulder fall away from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from its socket.
31:23  For calamity from God was a terror to me, and because of His majesty I could not endure [to face Him] and could do nothing.
31:24  If I have made gold my trust and hope or have said to fine gold, You are my confidence,
31:25  If I rejoiced because my wealth was great and because my [powerful] hand [alone] had gotten much,
31:26  If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness,
31:27  And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them],
31:28  This also would have been [a heinous and principal] iniquity to demand the judges’ action and punishment, for I would have denied and been false to the God Who is above.
31:29  If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him—
31:30  No, I have let my mouth sin neither by cursing my enemy nor by praying that he might die—
31:31  [Just ask] if the men of my tent will not say, Who can find one in need who has not been satisfied with food he gave them?—
31:32  The temporary resident has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my door to the wayfaring man—
31:33  If like Adam or like [other] men I have concealed my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom
31:34  Because I feared the great multitude and the contempt of families terrified me so that I kept silence and did not go out of the door—
31:35  Oh, for a hearing! Oh, for an answer from the Almighty! Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form] in a book!
31:36  Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder and wind the scroll about my head as a diadem.
31:37  I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life], approaching His presence as a prince—
31:38  For if my land has cried out against me and its furrows have complained together with tears [that I have no right to them],
31:39  If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them or have caused its [rightful] owners to breathe their last,
31:40  Let thistles grow instead of wheat and cockleburs instead of barley. The [controversial] words of Job [with his friends] are ended.