Job 31

CHAPTER 31

Job's Covenant

1[²a covenant ¹I made]   with my eyes, and I will not take notice upon a virgin. 2And what portion is from    God above, and [²inheritance ¹what fit] is from the highest? 3Woe, destruction to the unjust, and alienation to the one committing lawlessness. 4Will he not see my way, and [²all   ³my footsteps ¹count out]? 5But if I was going with jokesters, or even hurrying   my foot for treachery; 6(for I stand in [²yoke balance scale  ¹a just], [⁴knew ¹and ²the ³ lord]   my innocence); 7if [²turned aside   ¹my foot] from out of the way, or if even   [³my eye ²follows after   ¹my heart], and if even   my hands touched bribes; 8[²may I sow ¹then], and others eat; [³rootless ¹and ²may I become] upon the earth. 9If [²followed after   ¹my heart] the wife [²man ¹of another], and if [²laid in wait ¹I had] at her doors; 10[²may ⁵please ¹then ⁴even   ³my wife] another;   and [²my infants ¹may ³be humbled]. 11For the rage of anger is unrestrained in the defiling of a man's wife. 12[³a fire ¹For ²it is] burning upon all the parts; and whomever it may come upon [²from ³the roots ¹it destroyed]. 13And if even I treated as worthless the equity due  my male attendant or female attendant, in their pleading with me, 14what then shall I do if [⁴chastisement ⁵for me ³shall appoint ¹the ² lord]? and if also he should visit, what answer shall I make? 15Were they not even as I, born in a womb? and these were born, and we were born in the same belly. 16But the disabled [²whatever need ⁴at some time or other ³they had ¹missed not]; [⁵of the widow ¹and ³the ⁴eye ²I wasted not]. 17And even if   [²my morsel ¹I ate] alone, and [⁴not ⁵with an orphan ¹I shared ²of ³it], 18(for from my youth I nourished them  as a father, and from the womb of my mother I guided); 19and even if I overlooked the naked perishing, and clothed him not; 20and the disabled, unless they blessed me, and of the shearing wool  of my lambs [²were not heated   ¹their shoulders]; 21and if I lifted up [²against an orphan ¹a hand], (relying that much [³to me ¹help ²remained]); 22[²may ⁴separate ¹then   ³my shoulder] from the collar-bone,   and [²my arm ⁴from ⁵the ⁶elbow ¹may ³be broken]. 23For the fear of the lord  constrained me; from   his concern I shall not endure. 24If I ordered up gold for my strength; and if even [³stone ²very costly ¹I relied upon]; 25and even if [²gladness ¹great] in riches was coming to me; and if also [³upon ⁴innumerable things  ¹I put ²my hand]; 26(or do we not see [³sun ¹the ²shining] subsiding, and the moon waning? [³no power  ¹For ⁴to ⁵them ²there is]). 27And if [²was deceived ³in private   ¹my heart]; and if [³hand ²placing my ⁴upon ⁵my mouth ¹I was fond of]; 28then let this be  [²so to me ⁵lawlessness ³as the ⁴greatest ¹imputed]; for I lied before the lord  of the highest. 29And even if [²gratified ¹I became] at the calamitous downfall of my enemies; and said in  my heart, Well done! 30Let [³hear ¹then   ²my ear]   my curse, and may I then be a common topic   by my people for my inflicting evil. 31And if even often [²said   ¹my female attendants], Who ever might give to us   his flesh to satisfy? exceedingly of my being gracious. 32[⁴outside ¹for ³lodged not ²the stranger],   and my door [²to all ³that came ¹was open]. 33And if even of sins, unintentionally I hid   my sin, 34(for I was not diverted [²multitude ¹by a great]   to not openly declare before them); and if even I allowed a disabled man  to go forth from  my door [²bosom ¹with an empty], 35(oh that there might be given one to hear me), [⁴of the hand ¹but ⁵of the lord  ²unless ³I was in awe]; and as to a writ which I had against anyone, 36[³upon ⁴even my shoulders ¹putting it on ²a crown] I read it. 37And unless tearing it I gave it back [²nothing ¹having received] from a debtor. 38If [⁵against ⁶me ¹perhaps ²the ³earth ⁴moaned], and even if   her furrows wept with one accord; 39and even if   of its strength I ate alone without value; and if even [²of the life ³of the master ⁴of the ⁵land ¹in taking anything] I fretted him; 40instead of wheat then may there come forth to me nettles; and instead of barley a bush. And Job ceased words.