How then should I look upon a virgin?
31:2For what is the portion from God above,
And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,
And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
31:4Doth not he see my ways,
And number all my steps? \\ \\
31:5If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot hath hasted to deceit
31:6(Let me be weighed in an even balance,
That God may know mine integrity);
31:7If my step hath turned out of the way,
And my heart walked after mine eyes,
And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:
31:8Then let me sow, and let another eat;
Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. \\ \\
31:9If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman,
And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;
31:10Then let my wife grind unto another,
And let others bow down upon her.
31:11For that were a heinous crime;
Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
31:12For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction,
And would root out all mine increase.
31:13If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,
When they contended with me;
31:14What then shall I do when God riseth up?
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
31:15Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
31:16If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
31:18(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
31:19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering;
31:20If his loins have not blessed me,
And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
31:21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
Because I saw my help in the gate:
31:22Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,
And mine arm be broken from the bone.
31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me,
And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing. \\ \\
31:24If I have made gold my hope,
And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
31:25If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gotten much;
31:26If I have beheld the sun when it shined,
Or the moon walking in brightness,
31:27And my heart hath been secretly enticed,
And my mouth hath kissed my hand:
31:28This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
For I should have denied the God that is above.
31:29If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or lifted up myself when evil found him;
31:30(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin
By asking his life with a curse);
31:31If the men of my tent have not said,
Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?
31:32(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street;
But I have opened my doors to the traveller);
31:33If like Adam I have covered my transgressions,
By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
31:34Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door-
31:35Oh that I had one to hear me!
(Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me);
And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
31:36Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;
I would bind it unto me as a crown:
31:37I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
As a prince would I go near unto him.
31:38If my land crieth out against me,
And the furrows thereof weep together;
31:39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
31:40Let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And cockle instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.
Notes:
