Chapter 31

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  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:  

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

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

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

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

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

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  If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;  

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  What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?  

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  Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?  

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  If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,  

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  Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof  

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

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  If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;  

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  If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;  

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  If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:  

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

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

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  If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;  

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  If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;  

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  If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,  

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  And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  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-  

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  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!  

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

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

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

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

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

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