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31“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? ²What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high? ³Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? ⁴Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps? ⁵“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit— ⁶let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!— ⁷if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; ⁸then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door; ¹⁰then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her. ¹¹For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense; ¹²for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest. ¹³“If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me; ¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? ¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, ¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it— ¹⁸for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow— ¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, ²⁰whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; ²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; ²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. ²³For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴“If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; ²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; ²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; ²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above. ²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them— ³⁰I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse— ³¹if those of my tent ever said, ‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’ — ³²the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler—

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, ³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors— ³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! ³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown; ³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. ³⁸“If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; ³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; ⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.