Job 31 - ESV Bible - "I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then...

1 "I have made a covenant with my ¹eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?

2 What would be ²my portion from God above and ³my heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4 ⁴Does not he see my ways and ⁵number all my steps?

5 "If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;

6 (Let me be ⁶weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)

7 if my step has turned aside from the way and ⁷my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any ⁸spot has stuck to my hands,

8 then let me ⁹sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me^a be rooted out.

9 "If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have ¹⁰lain in wait at my neighbor's door,

10 then let my wife ¹¹grind for another, and let others ¹²bow down on her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity ¹³to be punished by the judges;

12 for that would be a fire ¹⁴that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13 "If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,

14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he ¹⁵makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15 Did ¹⁶not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 "If I have ¹⁷withheld anything that the poor desired, or have ¹⁸caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 (for from my youth the fatherless^b grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow^c),

19 if I have seen anyone ¹⁹perish for ²⁰lack of clothing, or the needy without ²¹covering,

20 if his body has not ²²blessed me,^d and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21 if I have raised my hand against ²³the fatherless, because I saw my help in ²⁴the gate,

22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23 For I was ²⁵in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his ²⁶majesty.

24 ²⁷"If I have made gold my ²⁸trust or called ²⁹fine gold my confidence,

25 if I have ³⁰rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because ³¹my hand had found much,

26 ³²if I have looked at the sun^e when it shone, or ³³the moon moving in splendor,

27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28 this also would be ³⁴an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

29 "If I have ³⁵rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him

30 (³⁶I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse),

31 if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who is there that has not been filled with his ³⁷meat?'

32 (³⁸the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),

33 if I ³⁹have concealed my transgressions ⁴⁰as others do^f by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

34 because I stood in great fear of ⁴¹the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--

35 Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ⁴²answer me!) Oh, that I had ⁴³the indictment written by my adversary!

36 Surely I would carry it on my ⁴⁴shoulder; I would ⁴⁵bind it on me as ⁴⁶a crown;

37 I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

38 "If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,

39 ⁴⁷if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners ⁴⁸breathe their last,

40 let ⁴⁹thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley."The words of Job are ended.

Job 31 ESV