I have presented a covenant to mine eyes,{HR}And how should I think on a maiden?
And what [would be] the portion of God [Eloah] from above,{HR}And inheritance of Shaddai from on high?
[Is there] not destruction to the wicked,{HR}And a strange [dream] to the workers of iniquity?
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
If I walked with falsehood, and my foot hasted to deceit,
(Let him weigh me in a balance of justice,{HR}And let God [Eloah] know mine integrity,)
If my step turned aside from the way,{HR}And my heart walked after mine eyes,{HR}And a blot cleaved to my hands,
Let me sow, and another eat, and my produce be uprooted.
If my heart was enticed about a woman,{HR}And I laid wait at my neighbour’s door,
Let my wife grind for another, and others bow down on her.
For this [is] an infamy, and that a crime for a judge.
For a fire it [is], it consumeth to destruction,{HR}And it would uproot all my increase.
If I despised the right of my bondman{HR}Or of my bondmaid, in their contending with me,
What then shall I do when God [El] ariseth?{HR}And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
In the belly did not he that made me make him?{HR}And did not One fashion us in the womb?
If I kept back the poor from [their] desire,{HR}And the eyes of the widow made to pine,
Or ate my morsel by myself,{HR}And the orphan had not eaten of it
(For from my path I brought him up as a father,{HR}And her I guided from my mother’s womb);
If I saw [any] perishing without clothing,{HR}And the needy without covering;
If his loins blessed me not,{HR}And he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
If I shook my hand over the orphan,{HR}When I saw my help in the gate;
Let my shoulder fall from the blade,{HR}And mine arm be broken from the bone.
For the destruction of God [El] was a terror to me,{HR}And before his majesty I was powerless.
If I made gold my confidence,{HR}And to the pure gold said, My trust;
If I rejoiced because my weal [was] great,{HR}And because my hand found much;
If I saw the light when it shineth{HR}And the moon walking splendidly,
And my heart was secretly enticed{HR}And my hand kissed my mouth
(And this were a crime for judges,{HR}For to God (El) above I had lied);
If I rejoiced over the ruin of my hater,{HR}And got uplifted when evil found him;—
Yea, I suffered not my palate to sin{HR}By asking that his soul might be under a curse;
If the men of my tent said not,{HR}Who giveth one not satisfied with his flesh?
The stranger passed not the night in the street;{HR}I opened my doors to the traveler;
If I, like Adam, covered my transgressions,{HR}Hiding in my bosom mine iniquity,
Because I feared the great multitude,{HR}And the contempt of families terrified me,{HR}So that I am silent, I go not out of the door.
O that One would hear me! Lo, my sign.{HR}Let Shaddai answer me,{HR}And mine adversary with the charge:
Would I not carry it on my shoulder?{HR}I would bind it as crowns on me.
The number of my steps I would tell him,{HR}As a prince would I go near to him.
If my land cry out against me,{HR}And its furrows weep together,
If its strength I consumed without wrong,{HR}And caused the soul of its owners to expire,
Instead of wheat let thorns come up,{HR}And weeds instead of barley.{HR}The words of Job are ended.