1<\/sup>I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.<\/span> <\/p>\n 2<\/sup>For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?<\/span> <\/p>\n 3<\/sup>Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?<\/span> <\/p>\n 4<\/sup>Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?<\/span> <\/p>\n 5<\/sup>If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,<\/span> <\/p>\n 6<\/sup>let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.<\/span> <\/p>\n 7<\/sup>If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,<\/span> <\/p>\n 8<\/sup>then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.<\/span> <\/p>\n 9<\/sup>If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,<\/span> <\/p>\n 10<\/sup>then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.<\/span> <\/p>\n 11<\/sup>For this is a crime and a very great injustice.<\/span> <\/p>\n 12<\/sup>It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.<\/span> <\/p>\n 13<\/sup>If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,<\/span> <\/p>\n 14<\/sup>then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?<\/span> <\/p>\n 15<\/sup>Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?<\/span> <\/p>\n 16<\/sup>If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;<\/span> <\/p>\n 17<\/sup>if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;<\/span> <\/p>\n 18<\/sup>(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)<\/span> <\/p>\n 19<\/sup>if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,<\/span> <\/p>\n 20<\/sup>if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;<\/span> <\/p>\n 21<\/sup>if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I the advantage over him at the gate;<\/span> <\/p>\n 22<\/sup>then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.<\/span> <\/p>\n 23<\/sup>For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.<\/span> <\/p>\n 24<\/sup>If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’<\/span> <\/p>\n 25<\/sup>if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;<\/span> <\/p>\n 26<\/sup>if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,<\/span> <\/p>\n 27<\/sup>so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,<\/span> <\/p>\n 28<\/sup>which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;<\/span> <\/p>\n 29<\/sup>if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,<\/span> <\/p>\n 30<\/sup>for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;<\/span> <\/p>\n 31<\/sup>if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”<\/span> <\/p>\n 32<\/sup>for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;<\/span> <\/p>\n 33<\/sup>if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;<\/span> <\/p>\n 34<\/sup>if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;<\/span> <\/p>\n 35<\/sup>then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,<\/span> <\/p>\n 36<\/sup>which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?<\/span> <\/p>\n 37<\/sup>With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.<\/span> <\/p>\n 38<\/sup>So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,<\/span> <\/p>\n 39<\/sup>if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,<\/span> <\/p>\n 40<\/sup>then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)<\/span> <\/p>\n