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