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31:1  I made a covenant with my eyes not to gaze upon a virgin.
31:2  What portion comes from God above, what heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3  Is it not calamity for the unrighteous, and woe for evildoers?
31:4  Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?
31:5  If I have walked in falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit,
31:6  Let God weigh me in the scales of justice; thus will he know my innocence!
31:7  If my steps have turned out of the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, or any stain clings to my hands,
31:8  Then may I sow, but another eat, and may my produce be rooted up!
31:9  If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;
31:10  Then may my wife grind for another, and may others kneel over her!
31:11  For that would be heinous, a crime to be condemned,
31:12  A fire that would consume down to Abaddon till it uprooted all my crops.
31:13  Had I refused justice to my manservant or to my maidservant, when they had a complaint against me,
31:14  What then should I do when God rises up? What could I answer when he demands an account?
31:15  Did not he who made me in the belly make him? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
31:16  If I have denied anything that the poor desired, or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish
31:17  While I ate my portion alone, with no share in it for the fatherless,
31:18  Though like a father he has reared me from my youth, guiding me even from my mother’s womb—
31:19  If I have seen a wanderer without clothing, or a poor man without covering,
31:20  Whose limbs have not blessed me when warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
31:21  If I have raised my hand against the innocent because I saw that I had supporters at the gate—
31:22  Then may my arm fall from the shoulder, my forearm be broken at the elbow!
31:23  For I dread calamity from God, and his majesty will overpower me.
31:24  Had I put my trust in gold or called fine gold my security;
31:25  Or had I rejoiced that my wealth was great, or that my hand had acquired abundance—
31:26  Had I looked upon the light as it shone, or the moon in the splendor of its progress,
31:27  And had my heart been secretly enticed to blow them a kiss with my hand,
31:28  This too would be a crime for condemnation, for I should have denied God above.
31:29  Had I rejoiced at the destruction of my enemy or exulted when evil came upon him,
31:30  Even though I had not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life—
31:31  Had not the men of my tent exclaimed, “Who has not been filled with his meat!”
31:32  No stranger lodged in the street, for I opened my door to wayfarers—
31:33  Had I, all too human, hidden my sins and buried my guilt in my bosom
31:34  Because I feared the great multitude and the scorn of the clans terrified me— then I should have remained silent, and not come out of doors!
31:35  Oh, that I had one to hear my case: here is my signature: let the Almighty answer me! Let my accuser write out his indictment!
31:36  Surely, I should wear it on my shoulder or put it on me like a diadem;
31:37  Of all my steps I should give him an account; like a prince I should present myself before him.
31:38  If my land has cried out against me till its furrows wept together;
31:39  If I have eaten its strength without payment and grieved the hearts of its tenants;
31:40  Then let the thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley! The words of Job are ended.