Read the Bible

¹ "I made an agreement with my eyes
    not to look at a young woman in a way that would make me want her.
² What does God above have for us?
    How does God All-Powerful repay people from his home high in heaven?^[a]
3 He sends trouble to the wicked
    and disaster to those who do wrong.
⁴ God is the one who knows what I do
    and sees every step I take.

⁵ "I have not lied to anyone.
    I never tried to cheat people.
⁶ If God would use accurate scales,^[b]
    he would know that I am innocent.
⁷ If I ever stepped off the right path,
    if my eyes led my heart to do evil,
    or if my hands are dirty with sin,
⁸ then let others eat what I planted.
    Let my crops be pulled up by the roots.

⁹ "If I have desired another woman
    or waited at my neighbor's door to sin with his wife,
¹⁰ then let my wife serve someone else,
    and let other men sleep with her.
¹¹ To do such a thing would be shameful,
    a sin that must be punished.
¹² Such sin is like a fire that burns until it destroys everything.
    It would completely ruin my life's work.

¹³ "If I refused to be fair to my slaves
    when they had a complaint against me,
¹⁴ then what will I do when I must face God?
    What will I say when he asks me to explain what I did?
¹⁵ The one who made me in my mother's womb also made them.
    God shaped us all inside our mothers.

¹⁶ "I have never refused to help the poor.
    I always gave widows what they needed.
¹⁷ I have never been selfish with my food.
    I shared what I had with orphans.
¹⁸ All my life I have been like a father to orphans
    and have taken care of widows.
¹⁹ Whenever I found people suffering because they didn't have clothes
    or saw a poor man with no coat,
²⁰     I always gave them something to wear.
I used the wool from my own sheep to make them warm.
    And they thanked me with all their heart.
²¹ I never threatened an orphan,
    even when I knew I had support in court.^[c]
22 If I ever did that, may my arm be pulled from its socket
    and fall from my shoulder!
²³ But I didn't do any of these bad things.
    I fear God's punishment too much.
    His majesty scares me.^[d]

²⁴ "I have never trusted in riches.
    I never said even to pure gold, ‘You are my hope.'
²⁵ I have been wealthy,
    but that didn't make me proud.
I earned a lot of money,
    but that is not what made me happy.
²⁶ I have never worshiped the bright sun
    or the beautiful moon.
²⁷ I was never foolish enough
    to worship the sun and the moon.
²⁸ This is also a sin that must be punished.
    If I had worshiped them, I would have been unfaithful to God All-Powerful.

²⁹ "I have never been happy
    when my enemies were destroyed.
I have never laughed at my enemies
    when bad things happened to them.
³⁰ I have never let my mouth sin by cursing my enemies
    and wishing for them to die.
³¹ The people in my house know that
    I have never let anyone go hungry.
³² I always invited strangers into my home
    so that they would not have to sleep in the streets.
³³ I have not tried to hide my sins as some people do.
    I have never hidden my guilt.
³⁴ I was never so afraid of what people might say or of making enemies
    that I kept my sins secret and avoided going out.

³⁵ "How I wish someone would listen to me!
    I will sign my name to all I have said.
Now let God All-Powerful answer me.
    Let him make a list of what he thinks I did wrong.
³⁶ I would wear it around my neck.
    I would put it on my head like a crown.
³⁷ Then I could explain everything I have done.
    I could come to God with my head held high like a prince.

³⁸ "I did not use my land in a wrong way.
    I never caused it to suffer.
³⁹ I always paid the workers for the food I got from the land.
    I never let any of them starve.
⁴⁰ If I ever did any of these bad things,
    let thorns and weeds grow in my fields instead of wheat and barley!"