# Job 31 (New King James Version)
Job Defends His Righteousness

##### Chapter 31
###### 1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes;  
Why then should I look upon a young woman?  

###### 2 For what _is_ the allotment of God from above,  
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?  

###### 3 _Is_ it not destruction for the wicked,  
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?  

###### 4 Does He not see my ways,  
And count all my steps?

###### 5 "If I have walked with falsehood,  
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,  

###### 6 Let me be weighed on honest scales,  
That God may know my integrity.  

###### 7 If my step has turned from the way,  
Or my heart walked after my eyes,  
Or if any spot adheres to my hands,  

###### 8 _Then_ let me sow, and another eat;  
Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

###### 9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman,  
Or _if_ I have lurked at my neighbor's door,  

###### 10 _Then_ let my wife grind for another,  
And let others bow down over her.  

###### 11 For that _would be_ wickedness;  
Yes, it _would be_ iniquity _deserving of_ judgment.  

###### 12 For that _would be_ a fire _that_ consumes to destruction,  
And would root out all my increase.

###### 13 "If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant  
When they complained against me,  

###### 14 What then shall I do when God rises up?  
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?  

###### 15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them?  
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

###### 16 "If I have kept the poor from _their_ desire,  
Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,  

###### 17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,  
So that the fatherless could not eat of it  

###### 18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,  
And from my mother's womb I guided _the widow_);  

###### 19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,  
Or any poor _man_ without covering;  

###### 20 If his heart has not blessed me,  
And _if_ he was _not_ warmed with the fleece of my sheep;  

###### 21 If I have raised my hand against the fatherless,  
When I saw I had help in the gate;  

###### 22 _Then_ let my arm fall from my shoulder,  
Let my arm be torn from the socket.  

###### 23 For destruction _from_ God _is_ a terror to me,  
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

###### 24 "If I have made gold my hope,  
Or said to fine gold, '_You are_ my confidence';  

###### 25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth _was_ great,  
And because my hand had gained much;  

###### 26 If I have observed the sun when it shines,  
Or the moon moving _in_ brightness,  

###### 27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,  
And my mouth has kissed my hand;  

###### 28 This also _would be_ an iniquity _deserving of_ judgment,  
For I would have denied God _who is_ above.

###### 29 "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,  
Or lifted myself up when evil found him  

###### 30 (Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin  
By asking for a curse on his soul);  

###### 31 If the men of my tent have not said,  
'Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?'  

###### 32 (_But_ no sojourner had to lodge in the street,  
_For_ I have opened my doors to the traveler);  

###### 33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam,  
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,  

###### 34 Because I feared the great multitude,  
And dreaded the contempt of families,  
So that I kept silence  
_And_ did not go out of the door--  

###### 35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!  
Here is my mark.  
_Oh,_ _that_ the Almighty would answer me,  
_That_ my Prosecutor had written a book!  

###### 36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,  
_And_ bind it on me _like_ a crown;  

###### 37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps;  
Like a prince I would approach Him.

###### 38 "If my land cries out against me,  
And its furrows weep together;  

###### 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money,  
Or caused its owners to lose their lives;  

###### 40 _Then_ let thistles grow instead of wheat,  
And weeds instead of barley."
The words of Job are ended.