1 ¶ I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I even look lustfully upon a young woman?

2 What then would I expect from God above? and what inheritance would the Almighty assign from on high?

3 Does not calamity befall the wicked? and disaster those who do evil?

4 Does not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

5 If I have been lying, or if my feet have run to deceive;

6 Let me be weighed in an honest balance, that God may know my integrity.

7 If my foot has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or any impurity has stained my hands;

8 Then let someone else eat what I sow; yea, let what grows for me be rooted out.

9 ¶ If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door;

10 Then let my wife grind grain for another man, and let another sleep with her.

11 For this is a terrible crime; yea, it is an crime that should be punished by the judges.

12 For it is an eternally destructive fire, that would destroy all that I possess.

13 If I ignored the complaint of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they had a grievance against me;

14 What then will I do when God rises up? how shall I answer him when he calls me to account?

15 Did not he who made me in the womb make my servant? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 ¶ If I have kept the poor from getting what they required, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

17 Or have eaten my food alone, and not shared it with the orphan;

18 (No from his youth the orphan grew up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from her mother’s womb;)

19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without covering;

20 If his loins have not blessed me, or the fleece of my sheep did not keep him warm;

21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, because I knew that the judges would support me:

22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from its socket.

23 For God’s judgement and destruction terrifies me, and because of his majesty I could not do these things.

24 ¶ If I have placed my faith in gold, or said to the fine gold, You are my confidence;

25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

26 If I looked upon the sun when it shined, or the moon moving along in its splendor;

27 And my heart has been secretly enticed by them, or threw them a kiss with my hand:

28 That too would be a crime to be punished by the judge: for I would have denied the God who is above.

29 Have I rejoiced at the ruin of one who hated me, or thought of myself as superior when evil overtook him:

30 No I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.

31 Have the men of my household ever said, Oh that we could eat of his food! we cannot be satisfied.

32 The stranger did not sleep in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.

33 ¶ If I concealed my sin like Adam, by hiding my guilt in my heart:

34 Because I greatly feared the crowd, or was terrified by the families that might despise me, so that I kept silent, and did not go outside?

35 Oh for a hearing! my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary would write his accusation on a scroll.

36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and wind the scroll around my head as a crown.

37 I would count out to him the number of my steps; I would approach him as a prince.

38 If my land cries out against me, or its furrows likewise complain;

39 If I have eaten its fruits without paying for them, or have caused the death of its tenants:

40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. Here ends what Job said.