[1] “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
[2] “What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
[3] “Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
[4] “Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?
[5] “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;
[6] “(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!)
[7] “if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
[8] “then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.
[9] “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
[10] “then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her.
[11] “For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
[12] “for that would be a fire that 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 makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
[15] “Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
[16] “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused 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 grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
[19] “if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering,
[20] “if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
[21] “if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
[22] “then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
[23] “For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
[24] “If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,
[25] “if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much,
[26] “if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
[27] “and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand,
[28] “this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.
[29] “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him
[30] “(I 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 meat?’
[32] “(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),
[33] “if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
[34] “because I stood in great fear of the 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 answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
[36] “Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a 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] “if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last,
[40] “let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.