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