“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
How then could I gaze at a virgin?

“The alien has not lodged outside,
For I have opened my doors to the traveler.

“Have I covered my transgressions like Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

“I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.

“If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;

Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
And kept silent and did not go out of doors?

“Oh that I had one to hear me!
Behold, here is my signature;
Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my adversary has written,

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him,
And the same one fashion us in the womb?

If I have looked at the sun when it shone
Or the moon going in splendor,

Let briars grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.

“If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves
When they filed a complaint against me,

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
I would bind it to myself like a crown.

“If I have put my confidence in gold,
And called fine gold my trust,

“If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

If I have eaten its fruit without money,
Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,

“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

“And what is the portion of God from above
Or the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

“Does He not see my ways
And number all my steps?

“Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,
Or exulted when evil befell him?

Let Him weigh me with accurate scales,
And let God know my integrity.

“For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon,
And would uproot all my increase.

“No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for his life in a curse.

If his loins have not thanked me,
And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

What then could I do when God arises?
And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the orphan has not shared it

“If I have walked with falsehood,
And my foot has hastened after deceit,

“If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart followed my eyes,
Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,

If I have gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had secured so much;

And my heart became secretly enticed,
And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

“For that would be a lustful crime;
Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges.

May my wife grind for another,
And let others kneel down over her.

If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering,

“For calamity from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

“Is it not calamity to the unjust
And disaster to those who work iniquity?

Let my shoulder fall from the socket,
And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw I had support in the gate,

(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from infancy I guided her),

“Have the men of my tent not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

Let me sow and another eat,
And let my crops be uprooted.