Testaments

Job - Chapter 31 - King James Version

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