¹ I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin?

² For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?

³ Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?

⁴ Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?

⁵ If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit;

⁶ (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);

⁷ If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:

⁸ Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

⁹ If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

¹⁰ Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.

¹¹ For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

¹² For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.

¹³ If I have 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 alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

¹⁸ (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb);

¹⁹ If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no 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, Because I saw my help in the gate:

²² Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone.

²³ For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.

²⁴ If I have made gold my hope, And 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 gotten 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, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:

²⁸ This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.

²⁹ If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

³⁰ (Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);

³¹ If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?

³² (The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);

³³ If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴ Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door-

³⁵ Oh that I had one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And `that I had' the indictment which mine adversary hath written!

³⁶ Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown:

³⁷ I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him.

³⁸ If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;

³⁹ If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

⁴⁰ Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.