Ayubu 31

A covenant with my eyes

¹I made a covenant with my eyes; \q how then could I look with desire at a young woman? ²For what portion does God above assign, \q what inheritance does the Almighty give from on high? ³Is it not ruin for the unrighteous, \q and disaster for those who do evil? ⁴Does he not see my ways \q and count every step I take? ⁵If I have walked with falsehood, \q or my foot has hurried after deceit, ⁶let him weigh me on honest scales, \q and let God know my integrity. ⁷If my steps have turned from the path, \q if my heart has followed my eyes, \q or if any stain has clung to my hands, ⁸then let me sow and another eat, \q and let my crops be uprooted.^{a 9}If my heart has been lured by a woman, \q or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, ¹⁰then let my wife grind grain for another man, \q and let other men lie with her. ¹¹For that would be a shameful crime, \q a wrong to be punished by the judges. ¹²It is a fire that burns all the way to Abaddon, \q and it would root out all my harvest. ¹³If I have refused justice to my male or female servants \q when they brought a complaint against me, ¹⁴what would I do when God rises up? \q When he calls me to account, what answer would I give him? ¹⁵Did not the one who made me in the womb make them too? \q Did not the same God form us both in the womb?^{b 16}If I have refused the poor what they longed for, \q or let the widow’s eyes grow weary with waiting, ¹⁷or eaten my bread alone, \q and not shared it with the orphan, ¹⁸for from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father, \q and from my mother’s womb I have guided the widow;^{c 19}if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing, \q or the needy with nothing to cover them, ²⁰if their bodies have not blessed me \q because they were warmed with the fleece of my sheep, ²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan \q because I saw I had support at the city gate, ²²then let my shoulder fall from its blade, \q and let my arm be broken off at the socket. ²³For I dreaded disaster from God, \q and because of his majesty I could not do such things. ²⁴If I have put my confidence in gold, \q or said to fine gold, “You are my security,” ²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, \q because my hand had gained so much, ²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone, \q or the moon moving in its splendor, ²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed, \q so that I threw them a kiss with my hand, ²⁸this too would be a crime to be punished by the judges, \q for I would have been false to God above. ²⁹If I have rejoiced at the ruin of someone who hated me, \q or gloated when disaster overtook them, ³⁰I have not let my mouth sin \q by calling down a curse on their life. ³¹If the people of my household have not said, \q “Who has not had their fill of his meat?” ³²No outsider had to spend the night in the street, \q for I opened my doors to the traveler.^{d 33}If I have concealed my transgressions as people do, \q by hiding my guilt in my heart,^{e 34}because I feared the great crowd \q and the contempt of the clans terrified me, \q so that I kept quiet and would not go out of my door— ³⁵Oh, that I had someone to hear me! \q Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me! \q If only I had the charge my accuser has written!^{f 36}I would surely carry it on my shoulder; \q I would wear it like a crown. ³⁷I would give him an account of every step I have taken; \q like a prince I would come near to him. ³⁸If my land has cried out against me, \q and its furrows have wept together, ³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment, \q or made its owners breathe their last, ⁴⁰then let thorns grow instead of wheat, \q and foul weeds instead of barley. \q The words of Job are ended.