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31:1  “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?
31:2  What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3  Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?
31:4  Does not he see my ways, and number all my steps?
31:5  “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit;
31:6  (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)
31:7  if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands;
31:8  then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.
31:9  “If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;
31:10  then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.
31:11  For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
31:12  for that would be a fire which consumes unto Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.
31:13  “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me;
31:14  what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
31:15  Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
31:16  “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17  or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
31:18  (for from his youth I reared him as a father, and from his mother’s womb I guided him);
31:19  if I have seen any one perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without covering;
31:20  if his loins have not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
31:21  if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw help in the gate;
31:22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
31:23  For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
31:24  “If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;
31:25  if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much;
31:26  if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
31:27  and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;
31:28  this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.
31:29  “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him
31:30  (I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse);
31:31  if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
31:32  (the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer);
31:33  if I have concealed my transgressions from men, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
31:34  because 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—
31:35  Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
31:36  Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;
31:37  I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.
31:38  “If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;
31:39  if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;
31:40  let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.