31 | Job | Reference | |
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"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? | |||
What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high? | |||
Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? | |||
Does not he see my ways, and number all my steps? | |||
"If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit; | |||
(Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) | |||
if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands; | |||
then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out. | |||
"If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door; | |||
then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her. | |||
For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; | |||
for that would be a fire which consumes unto Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase. | |||
"If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me; | |||
what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? | |||
Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? | |||
"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, | |||
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it | |||
(for from his youth I reared him as a father, and from his mother's womb I guided him); | |||
if I have seen any one perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without covering; | |||
if his loins have not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; | |||
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw help in the gate; | |||
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. | |||
For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty. | |||
"If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; | |||
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; | |||
if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, | |||
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; | |||
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above. | |||
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him | |||
(I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse); | |||
if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?' | |||
(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer); | |||
if I have concealed my transgressions from men, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, | |||
because 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 - | |||
Oh, 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! | |||
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown; | |||
I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. | |||
"If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; | |||
if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; | |||
let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley."The words of Job are ended. | |||
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