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“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
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For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
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Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
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Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
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If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
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let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
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If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
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then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
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If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
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then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.
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For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
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For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;(a) it would root out my entire harvest.
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If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,
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what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?
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Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
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If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
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if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
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though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
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if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
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if his heart has not blessed me (b) for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
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if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
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then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
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For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
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If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
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if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
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if I have beheld the sun (c) in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
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so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
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this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
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If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
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I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—
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if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
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but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
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if I have covered my transgressions like Adam (d) by hiding my guilt in my heart,
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because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—
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(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
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Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
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I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—
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if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
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if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
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then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.
Footnotes