I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a virgin?

I made a covenant with my eyes [(not to gaze at a married woman)] and a virgin [(when this might cause me to lust her after she is married)].

For what would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

But what portion [i.e., what reward did I receive for this from] G d on high, and what inheritance from the Almighty in the heavens?

Is not destruction due to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

Is destruction not befitting the churl [(and not me)], and estrangement the workers of iniquity?

Does he not see my ways, and count all my steps?

Does He not see my ways and count all my steps

If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

[to know] whether I have walked with vain men or whether my feet have hastened to deceit?

let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity.

Would that He weighed me in righteous scales, so that G d would know my innocence.

If my step has turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if anything has cleaved to my hands;

If my feet have strayed from the [proper] path, or if my heart went astray after my eyes, or if any blemish stuck to my palm,

then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

then let me sow and another eat, and let my issue be uprooted.

If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

If my heart was enticed by a woman and I lurked at my neighbor's door [(for his wife)],

then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

then let my wife be "ground" by another and let others kneel over her.

For that would be a heinous crime; yea, it would be iniquity to be punished by the judges.

For it [(such thought)] is lewdness and is a sin deserving punishment [(by affliction)].

For it is a fire that consumes to Avaddon, and would root out all my increase.

For it is a fire that consumes everything, and it would uproot all of my produce [(wherefore I shunned it)].

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

Did I despise the complaint of my man-servant or maid-servant in their dispute with me?

what then shall I do when God rises up? and when he remembers, what shall I answer him?

[No, rather I said:] What will I do if G d rises up [against me]? And if He reckons [this sin against me], how will I answer Him?

Did not he who made me in the belly make him? and did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

Did He not make him in the womb [of his mother as] He made me [in the womb of mine]? And one [G d] framed both of us] in the womb.

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

Have I withheld the desire of the poor? Have I made the eyes of the widow go wanting?

or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless have not eaten thereof;

Did I eat my loaf alone and have no orphan eat of it?

(for from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)

But from my youth it [(the trait of charitableness)] has raised me as a father, and from the womb of my mother I have pursued it.

if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

If I saw a lost one without a garment, or a poor man with no covering,

if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

did his descendants not bless me? Was he not warmed with the shearings of my sheep?

if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even though I saw my help in the gate:

If I [ever] raised my hand against the orphan, seeing my defense [i.e., that I would be acquitted] in the gate [of justice],

then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

then let my arm fall from my shoulder and my forearm be broken in its socket.

For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I could do nothing.

For I was in fear of G d's punishment, and I was restrained by His majesty.

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

Did I make gold my hope and regard pure gold as my defense [(in cowing the poor)]?

if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

Did I rejoice in the abundance of my wealth or in the vast acquisitions of my hand [(causing the poor to envy me)]?

if I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness;

When I saw the sun in its strength and the moon waxing in brightness,

and my heart had been secretly enticed, or my mouth had kissed my hand:

was my heart enticed in secret [(to regard them as deities)], and did I press my hand to my mouth [(to keep my heart from being "overheard")]?

this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: for I should have betrayed the God that is above.

That, too, would have been a sin deserving of punishment, for I would have been denying G d on high.

Did I rejoice at the destruction of him who hates me, or did I exult when evil found him?

Did I rejoice in the downfall of my enemy and rise against him when he was beset with ill?

Indeed I have not suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

I did not [even] allow my palate to sin [against him] by demanding his soul through an oath.

Have not the men of my tent said, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied?

Did the people of my tent [i.e., my servants] not say [(about me because of my "burdening" them with the duties of hospitality)]: "Would that we could eat of his flesh! We would not be sated"?

But the stranger did not lodge in the street: I opened my doors to the traveller.

The stranger would never lie outside [my house]. My doors were open to the wayfarer.

Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom?

Did I conceal my offenses as other men do, hiding my sins in secret places?

Did I fear the great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me? but I kept silence, and went not out of the door.

[(In the past)] I humbled a multitude [(of the wicked, but now)] the most despised of families frightens me, and I must be still and not leave my door.

Oh that one would hear me! here is my mark, let the Almighty answer me! and would that my adversary would pen his writ!

Would that someone listened to me! Let me [i.e., a true account of me] be written down. May the Almighty grant me [this], and let my disputant [too] write [down his argument in] a book.

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

In truth, I would carry him [(the writer of my book)] on my shoulders. I would wear it [(my book)] as a crown.

I would declare to him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near to him.

I would tell him the number of my steps and draw him close, as a dignitary.

If my land cry against me, or its furrows complain together;

If my land cries out against me [(for not having tithed its produce)] and its furrows bewail themselves [(for having plowed with ox and ass)] together —

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to sigh:

If I have consumed its strength without pay [(for its workers)] and have aggrieved the soul of its owner [(the tenant-farmer, who works it)] —

let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Iyyov are ended.

then in place of wheat let thistles grow, and in place of barley, cockles. The words of Iyyov are ended.