I made
a covenant
with mine eyes;
why then should I think
upon a maid?
For what portion
of God
is there from above?
and what inheritance
of the Almighty
from on high?
Is not destruction
to the wicked?
and a strange
punishment to the workers
of iniquity?
Doth not he see
my ways,
and count
all my steps?
If I have walked
with vanity,
or if my foot
hath hasted
to deceit;
Let me be weighed
in an even
balance,
that God
may know
mine integrity.
If my step
hath turned out
of the way,
and mine heart
walked
after
mine eyes,
and if any blot
hath cleaved
to mine hands;
Then let me sow,
and let another
eat;
yea, let my offspring
be rooted out.
If mine heart
have been deceived
by a woman,
or if I have laid wait
at my neighbour's
door;
Then let my wife
grind
unto another,
and let others
bow down
upon her.
For this is an heinous crime;
yea, it is an iniquity
to be punished by the judges.
For it is a fire
that consumeth
to destruction,
and would root out
all mine increase.
If I did despise
the cause
of my manservant
or of my maidservant,
when they contended
with me;
What then shall I do
when God
riseth up?
and when he visiteth,
what shall I answer
him?
Did not he that made
me in the womb
make
him? and did not one
fashion
us in the womb?
If I have withheld
the poor
from their desire,
or have caused the eyes
of the widow
to fail;
Or have eaten
my morsel
myself alone, and the fatherless
hath not eaten
thereof;
(For from my youth
he was brought up
with me, as with a father,
and I have guided
her from my mother's
womb;
)
If I have seen
any perish
for want of clothing,
or any poor
without covering;
If his loins
have not blessed
me, and if he were not warmed
with the fleece
of my sheep;
If I have lifted up
my hand
against the fatherless,
when I saw
my help
in the gate:
Then let mine arm
fall
from my shoulder blade,
and mine arm
be broken
from the bone.
For destruction
from God
was a terror
to me, and by reason of his highness
I could
not endure.
If I have made
gold
my hope,
or have said
to the fine gold,
Thou art my confidence;
If I rejoiced
because my wealth
was great,
and because mine hand
had gotten
much;
If I beheld
the sun
when it shined,
or the moon
walking
in brightness;
And my heart
hath been secretly
enticed,
or my mouth
hath kissed
my hand:
This also were an iniquity
to be punished by the judge:
for I should have denied
the God
that is above.
If I rejoiced
at the destruction
of him that hated
me, or lifted up
myself when evil
found
him:
Neither have I suffered
my mouth
to sin
by wishing
a curse
to his soul.
If the men
of my tabernacle
said
not, Oh that we had
of his flesh!
we cannot be satisfied.
The stranger
did not lodge
in the street:
but I opened
my doors
to the traveller.
If I covered
my transgressions
as Adam,
by hiding
mine iniquity
in my bosom:
Did I fear
a great
multitude,
or did the contempt
of families
terrify
me, that I kept silence,
and went not out
of the door?
turn away from
διετράπην
dietrapēn
great multitude
πολυοχλίαν
polyochlian
tell out
ἐξαγορεῦσαι
exagoreusai
Oh that
one would hear
me! behold, my desire
is, that the Almighty
would answer
me, and that mine adversary
had written
a book.
Surely I would take
it upon my shoulder,
and bind
it as a crown
to me.
I would declare
unto him the number
of my steps;
as a prince
would I go near
unto him.
If my land
cry
against me, or that the furrows
likewise
thereof complain;
If I have eaten
the fruits
thereof without money,
or have caused the owners
thereof to lose
their life:
Let thistles
grow
instead of wheat,
and cockle
instead of barley.
The words
of Job
are ended.
