| Chapter 31 |
1 | I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
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2 | For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
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3 | [Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?
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4 | Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
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5 | If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
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6 | Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
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7 | If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
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8 | [Then] let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
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9 | If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;
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10 | [Then] let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
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11 | For this [is] an heinous crime; yea, it [is] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges.
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12 | For it [is] a fire [that] consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
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13 | If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
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14 | What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
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15 | Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
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16 | If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
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17 | Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
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18 | (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)
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19 | If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
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20 | If his loins have not blessed me, and [if] he were [not] warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
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21 | If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
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22 | [Then] let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
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23 | For destruction [from] God [was] a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
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24 | If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;
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25 | If I rejoiced because my wealth [was] great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
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26 | If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;
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27 | And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
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28 | This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.
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29 | If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
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30 | Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
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31 | If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
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32 | The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveller.
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33 | If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
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34 | Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, [and] went not out of the door?
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35 | Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire [is, that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] mine adversary had written a book.
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36 | Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] a crown to me.
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37 | I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
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38 | If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
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39 | If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
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40 | Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
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