¹I have made a covenant concerning my eyes;

Now why should I pay attention to a virgin?

²And what is one's portion from God above,

And one's inheritance from the Almighty in the heights?

³Is it not calamity to the unjust man,

And alienation to the perpetrators of iniquity?

⁴Does he not see my ways

And count all my steps?

⁵– And know whether I have walked with vanity,

And whether my foot has hastened to deceit?

⁶Let him weigh me with just balances

So that God may know my integrity

⁷– Whether my step has turned aside from the way,

And whether my heart has followed my eyes,

And whether any spot has cleaved to my hands.

⁸If so, then let me sow,

And another eat,

And let my offspring be eradicated.

⁹If my heart has been seduced by a woman,

Or if I have lain in wait at the door of my neighbour,

¹⁰Then let my wife grind flour for another,

And let other servants bow to her as mistress.

¹¹For such behaviour would be depravity,

And that is a judicial offence.

¹²For such a fire would consume me to destruction,

And it would root out all my produce.

¹³If I have rejected the justice of my manservant or my maidservant

In their dispute with me,

¹⁴Then what should I do if God rises up,

And if he deals with the case?

What should I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb

Also make the other?

Did not he form us

In one kind of womb?

¹⁶I have certainly not withheld my support from the poor,

Or caused the eye of the widow to languish,

¹⁷Nor eaten my morsel on my own,

With the orphan not partaking of it.

¹⁸For from my youth the orphan grew up while I was as a father,

And from my mother's womb I guided the widow.

¹⁹If I saw anyone perishing for want of clothing,

Or if the poor had no covering,

²⁰His loins certainly were grateful to me

As he warmed himself in fleece from my lambs.

²¹If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan

When I saw at the gate a need for my help,

²²May my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,

And my arm be broken from the arm socket.

²³For fear was upon me

Of a downfall from God,

For I cannot prevail against his exalted position.

²⁴If I have made gold my hope

And said to fine gold,

‘You are my ground of reliance’;

²⁵If I have delighted because my wealth was great,

Or because my hand had found abundance,

²⁶Or if I saw sunlight when it shone,

Or the moon making its course in honour,

²⁷And my heart was deceived in secret,

And my hand kissed my mouth,

²⁸This too would have been a judicial offence,

For I would have acted falsely towards God above,

²⁹Or if I have rejoiced

At the demise of him who hates me,

And I have been uplifted

When evil befell him.

³⁰I have not allowed the roof of my mouth to sin

By asking for a curse on his life.

³¹It is the men of my household who certainly said,

‘If only we had a part of his flesh;

We are not satisfied.’

³²The foreigner has not had to lodge out in the open;

I have opened my doors to the traveller.

³³If I have covered my transgressions like Adam,

By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴Then may I fear a great multitude,

And the contempt of families intimidating me,

So that I become silent

And do not go out of doors.

³⁵If only I had someone who would listen to me.

If only the Almighty would answer me with a written charge for me,

And the one who is contending with me

Would write out the case against me in a book.

³⁶I would certainly bear it on my shoulder

And bind it to myself like crowns.

³⁷I would declare the number of my steps;

Like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸If my ground cries out against me,

And if its furrows weep together,

³⁹If I have eaten the produce of it without paying,

If I have caused the inner selves of those entitled to it to gasp,

⁴⁰Then let thistles come up instead of wheat,

And weeds instead of barley.

The words of Job are complete.”