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¹ I Made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?² For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of the Almighty from on high?³ [Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to 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 my integrity.⁷ If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands;⁸ [Then] let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out.

⁹ If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;¹⁰ [Then] let my wife grind to another, and let others bow down upon her.¹¹ For this [is] a hainous crime; yea, it [is] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges.¹² For it [is] a fire [that] consumeth to destruction, and would root out all my increase.¹³ If I despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, 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 from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;¹⁷ Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;¹⁸ (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a 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, and [if] he hath not been warmed 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 [Then] let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.²³ For destruction [from] God [was] a 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 art] my confidence;²⁵ If I have rejoiced because my wealth [was] great, and because my hand had gained much;²⁶ If I have beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;²⁷ And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:²⁸ This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.²⁹ If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or have 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 have not said, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.³² The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveler.

³³ If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:³⁴ Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, [and] went not out of the door?³⁵ Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is], [that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] my adversary had written a book.³⁶ Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] a crown to me.³⁷ I would declare to him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near to him.³⁸ If my land crieth against me, or its furrows likewise complain;³⁹ If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life:⁴⁰ Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.