CHAPTER 31
1A pact I sealed with my eyes—
I will not gaze on a virgin.
2And what is the share from God above,
the portion from Shaddai in the heights?
3Is there not ruin for the wrongdoer,
and estrangement for those who do evil?
4Does He not see my way,
and all my steps count?
5Have I walked in a lie,
has my foot hurried to deceit?
6Let Him weigh me on fair scales,
that God know my blamelessness.
7If my stride has strayed from the way,
and my heart gone after my eyes,
or the least thing stuck to my palms,
8 let me sow and another shall eat,
my offspring torn up by the roots.
9If my heart was seduced by a woman,
and at the door of my friend I lurked,
10let my wife grind for another
and upon her let others crouch.
11For that is lewdness,
and that is a grave crime.
12For it is fire that consumes to Perdition,
and in all my yield eats the roots.
13If I spurned the case of my slave
or my slavegirl in their brief against me,
14what would I do when God stands up,
and when He assays it, what would I answer?
15 Why, my Maker made him in the belly,
and formed him in the selfsame womb.
16Did I hold back the poor from their desire
or make the eyes of the widow pine?
17Did I eat my bread alone,
and an orphan not eat from it?
18 For from my youth like a father I raised him,
and from my mother’s womb I led him.
19If I saw a man failing, ungarbed,
and no garment for the impoverished,
20did his loins not then bless me,
and from my sheep’s shearing was he not warmed?
21If I raised my hand against an orphan,
when I saw my advantage in the gate,
22let my shoulder fall out of its socket
and my arm break off from its shaft.
23For ruin from God is my fear,
and His presence I cannot withstand.
24If I made gold my bulwark,
and fine gold I called my trust,
25if I rejoiced that my wealth was great
and that abundance my hand had found,
26if I saw light when it gleamed
and the moon gliding grand,
27and my heart was seduced in secret,
and my hand caressed my mouth,
28this, too, would be a grave crime,
for I would have denied God above.
29If I rejoiced at my foe’s disaster,
and exulted when harm found him out—
30yet I did not let my mouth offend
to seek out his life in an oath.
31 Did the men of my tent ever say,
“Would that we were never sated of his flesh.”
32The sojourner did not sleep outside.
My doors to the wayfarer I opened.
33 Did I hide like Adam my wrongdoings,
to bury within me my crime,
34that I should fear the teeming crowd,
and the scorn of clans terrify me,
fall silent and keep within doors?
35 Would that I had someone to hear me out.
Here’s my mark—let Shaddai answer me,
and let my accuser indict his writ.
36 I would bear it upon my shoulder,
bind it as a crown upon me.
37 The number of my steps I would tell Him,
like a prince I would approach him.
38If my soil has cried out against me,
and together its furrows wept,
39if I ate its yield without payment,
and drove its owners to despair,
40instead of wheat let nettles grow,