Chapter 31

1I have covenanted with my eyesNot to gaze on a maiden.

2What fate is decreed by God above?What lot, by Shaddai in the heights?

3Calamity is surely for the iniquitous;Misfortune, for the worker of mischief.

4Surely He observes my ways,Takes account of my every step.

5Have I walked with worthless men,Or my feet hurried to deceit?

6Let Him weigh me on the scale of righteousness;Let God ascertain my integrity.

7If my feet have strayed from their course,My heart followed after my eyes,And a stain sullied my hands,

8May I sow, but another reap,May the growth of my field be uprooted!

9If my heart was ravished by the wife of my neighbor,And I lay in wait at his door,

10May my wife grind for another,May others kneel over her!

11For that would have been debauchery,A criminal offense,

12A fire burning down to Abaddon,Consuming the roots of all my increase.

13Did I ever brush aside the case of my servants, man or maid,When they made a complaint against me?

14What then should I do when God arises;When He calls me to account, what should I answer Him?

15Did not He who made me in my mother’s belly make him?Did not One form us both in the womb?

16Did I deny the poor their needs,Or let aa widow pine away,

17By eating my food alone,The fatherless not eating of it also?

18Why, from my youth he grew up with me as though I were his father;Since I left my mother’s womb I was herb guide.

19I never saw an unclad wretch,A needy man without clothing,

20Whose loins did not bless meAs he warmed himself with the shearings of my sheep.

21If I raised my hand against the fatherless,Looking to my supporters in the gate,

22May my arm drop off my shoulder;My forearm break off cat the elbow.

23For I am in dread of God-sent calamity;I cannot bear His threat.

24Did I put my reliance on gold,Or regard fine gold as my bulwark?

25Did I rejoice in my great wealth,In having attained plenty?

26If ever I saw the light shining,The moon on its course in full glory,

27And I secretly succumbed,And my hand touched my mouth in a kiss,

28That, too, would have been a criminal offense,For I would have denied God above.

29Did I rejoice over my enemy’s misfortune?Did I thrill because evil befell him?

30I never let my mouthd sinBy wishing his death in a curse.

31(Indeed, the men of my clan said,“We would consume his flesh insatiably!”)

32No sojourner spent the night in the open;I opened my doors to the road.

33Did I hide my transgressions like Adam,Bury my wrongdoing in my bosom,

34That I should [now] fear the great multitude,And am shattered by the contempt of families,So that I keep silent and do not step outdoors?

35O that I had someone to give me a hearing;O that Shaddai would reply to my writ,Or my accuser draw up a true bill!

36I would carry it on my shoulder;Tie it around me for a wreath.

37I would give him an account of my steps,Offer it as to a commander.

38If my land cries out against me,Its furrows weep together;

39If I have eaten its produce without payment,And made its [rightful] owners despair,

40May nettles grow there instead of wheat;Instead of barley, stinkweed!The words of Job are at an end.