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31:1  I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I stare at a virgin with desire?
31:2  If I did, what reward would I receive from God above? What inheritance from the Almighty on high?
31:3  Is not ruin the reward for the wicked, and misfortune the reward for evildoers?
31:4  But doesn’t God see my ways? Doesn’t he count my every step?
31:5  Have I walked with deceit and lies? Has my foot hurried to pursue fraud?
31:6  If God weighs me on an honest scale, he will know my integrity.
31:7  If my footsteps have slipped off the path, if my heart has pursued things desired by my eyes, if anything corrupt has stuck to my palms,
31:8  then let someone else eat what I have sown. Let my crops be uprooted.
31:9  If my heart has been enticed by a woman, if I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
31:10  let my wife grind for another, and let other men crouch down over her.
31:11  For that would have been shameful behavior, a guilty deed worthy of judgment.
31:12  There is a fire that consumes all the way to hell, that would completely burn up all my harvest.
31:13  If I have denied justice to my male servants or to my female servants in their disputes with me,
31:14  then what would I do when God arises, when he comes to call me to account? How could I respond to him?
31:15  Didn’t he who made me in the womb also make my servant? Didn’t the same God fashion us both in the womb?
31:16  If I have withheld from the poor what they desired, if I have darkened the eyes of the widow,
31:17  if I have eaten my food all by myself and have not shared it with the fatherless—
31:18  no, from the time of my youth, the fatherless child grew up with me, and I was like a father to him. From the womb of my mother I guided the widow.
31:19  If I saw anyone perishing from lack of clothing, if the needy had nothing to wear,
31:20  his very body blessed me, as he was warmed by the wool from my sheep.
31:21  If I raised my hand against the fatherless child, because I had influence in the court at the city gate,
31:22  then let my shoulder be knocked out of its socket, and let my upper arm be broken.
31:23  Now doom from God terrifies me, and I cannot endure his majesty.
31:24  If I placed my confidence in gold, and if I said to pure gold, “You are my security,”
31:25  if I rejoiced because I was so rich and because my hand had obtained so much,
31:26  if I saw the shining sun and the moon moving in its splendor,
31:27  if my heart was gullible enough to worship them in secret, and I kissed my hand to honor them,
31:28  that would have made me guilty and deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God above.
31:29  If I rejoiced at the misfortune of someone who hates me, or I was thrilled because trouble caught up with him—
31:30  but no, I have not savored sin by asking for a curse on his life.
31:31  Did the men in my tent ever have to say that there was someone who had not been filled with meat from Job?
31:32  No stranger ever had to spend the night outside. I have opened my door to the traveler.
31:33  If I had covered up my sin like Adam, and I had hidden my guilt in my heart,
31:34  because I was frightened of the crowd, and the contempt of the clans filled me with terror, so that I was silent and I did not go out of a door—
31:35  Oh how I wish I had someone to listen to me! Look, here is my seal on my testimony. Let the Almighty answer me! Let me see the written indictment from my accuser.
31:36  I would lift it up on my shoulder. I would place it on my head as a crown.
31:37  I would account to him for every single step. I would approach him like the chief of a tribe.
31:38  If my soil cries out against me, and its furrows weep because of me,
31:39  if I have consumed its wealth without paying for it, if I have caused the death of its owners,
31:40  then let a thorn bush grow up instead of wheat, and stinkweeds instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.