| Chapter 31
|
| 1 | I made a
covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? |
| 2 | For what portion of God is there from
above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? |
| 3 | Is not destruction to the wicked? and a
strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? |
|
4 | Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? |
| 5 | If I have walked with
vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; |
| 6 | Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know
mine integrity. |
| 7 | If my
step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if
any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; |
|
8 | Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be
rooted out. |
| 9 | If mine
heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's
door; |
| 10 | Then let my
wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. |
| 11 | For this is an heinous crime; yea, it
is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. |
| 12 | For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and
would root out all mine increase. |
|
13 | If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my
maidservant, when they contended with me; |
| 14 | What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he
visiteth, what shall I answer him? |
|
15 | Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one
fashion us in the womb? |
| 16 |
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of
the widow to fail; |
| 17 | Or
have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten
thereof; |
| 18 | (For from my
youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from
my mother's womb;) |
| 19 | If
I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; |
| 20 | If his loins have not
blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; |
| 21 | If I have lifted up my hand
against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: |
| 22 | Then let mine arm fall from my
shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. |
| 23 | For destruction from God was a terror
to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure. |
| 24 | If I have made gold my hope, or have
said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; |
|
25 | If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and
because mine hand had gotten much; |
|
26 | If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in
brightness; |
| 27 | And my
heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: |
| 28 | This also were an iniquity to be
punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. |
| 29 | If I rejoice at the
destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: |
| 30 | Neither have I suffered
my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. |
|
31 | If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had
of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. |
| 32 | The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened
my doors to the traveller. |
| 33
| If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my
bosom: |
| 34 | Did I fear a
great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept
silence, and went not out of the door? |
| 35 | Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that
the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. |
| 36 | Surely I would take it
upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. |
|
37 | I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as
a prince would I go near unto him. |
|
38 | If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof
complain; |
| 39 | If I have
eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to
lose their life: |
| 40 | Let
thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job
are ended. |
