Read the Bible

¹ "I made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?
² What then would be one's lot from God above,
one's heritage from the Almighty on high?
³ Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
⁵ If I have walked in falsehood,
and if my foot has hastened to deceit—
⁶ let him weigh me with honest scales;
then God will discover my integrity.
⁷ If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes,
or if anything has defiled my hands,
⁸ then let me sow and let another eat,
and let my crops be uprooted.
⁹ If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
¹⁰ then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her.
¹¹ For I would have committed a shameful act,
an iniquity to be judged.
¹² For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,
and it would uproot all my harvest.
¹³ "If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed with me,
¹⁴ then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;
when he intervenes,
how will I respond to him?
¹⁵ Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
¹⁶ If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
¹⁷ If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans—
¹⁸ but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,
and from my mother's womb
I guided the widow!
¹⁹ If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
²⁰ whose heart did not bless me
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,
²¹ if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court,
²² then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let my arm be broken off at the socket.
²³ For the calamity from God was a terror to me,
and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.
²⁴ "If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!'
²⁵ if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
²⁶ if I looked at the sun when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,
²⁸ then this also would be iniquity to be judged,
for I would have been false to God above.
²⁹ If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy
or exulted because calamity found him—
³⁰ I have not even permitted my mouth to sin
by asking for his life through a curse—
³¹ if the members of my household have never said,
‘If only there were someone
who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!'—
³² But no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler—
³³ if I have covered my transgressions as men do,
by hiding iniquity in my heart,
³⁴ because I was terrified of the great multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors—

³⁵ "If only I had someone to hear me!
Here is my signature—
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment
that my accuser had written.
³⁶ Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder,
I would bind it on me like a crown;
³⁷ I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸ "If my land cried out against me
and all its furrows wept together,
³⁹ if I have eaten its produce without paying,
or caused the death of its owners,
⁴⁰ then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!"