1A covenant, I solemnised for mine eyes,—How then could I gaze upon a virgin? 2Or what would have been my portion of GOD from above? Or what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 3Is there not calamity, for the perverse? and misfortune, for the workers of iniquity? 4Would, he, not see my ways? and of all my steps, take account? 5Verily I walked not in falsity, nor did my foot haste unto deceit:— 6Let him weigh me in balances of righteousness,—and let GOD take note of mine integrity! 7If my goings have swerved from the way,—and, after mine eyes, hath gone my heart, and, to my hands, hath adhered any stain, 8Let me sow but, another, eat. And let, what I have springing up, be uprooted! 9 If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, or, by the door of my neighbour, I have lien in wait, 10Let my wife, grind to another, and, over her, let others bend! 11Surely that had been a shameful thing! and that an iniquity for the judges! 12Surely, a fire, had that been, which, unto destruction, would have consumed, and, of all mine increase, had it torn up the root. 13If I refused the right of my servant, or my handmaid, when they contended with me, 14What then could I have done when GOD rose up? And, when he visited, what could I have answered him? 15Did not he who, in the womb, made me, make him? And is not he who formed us in the body one? 16 If I withheld—from pleasure—the poor, or, the eyes of the widow, I dimmed; 17Or, used to eat my morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof; 18Surely, from my youth, he grew up to me, as to a father, and, from my birth, I acted as guide to her: 19If I saw one perishing for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering; 20If his loins did not bless me, or if, with the fleece of my lambs, he did not warm himself; 21If I shook—against the fatherless—my hand, when I saw, in the gate, his need of my help, 22Let, my shoulder, from the shoulder-blade, fall, and, my arm, from the upper bone, be broken; 23For, a dread unto me, was calamity from GOD, and, from his majesty, I could not escape. 24 If I made gold my stay, and, to precious metal, said, My confidence! 25If I rejoiced because great was my substance, and, an abundance, my hand had discovered; 26If I looked at the sun, when it flashed forth light, or at the moon, majestically marching along; 27And befooled secretly was my heart, so that my hand kissed my mouth, 28That too, had been a judicial iniquity, For I should have been false to GOD, above. 29If rejoiced in the misfortune of him that hated me, or exulted when calamity found him;— 30Neither did I suffer my palate to sin, by asking, with a curse, for his life: 31If the men of my household have not said, Oh for some of his flesh—we cannot get filled, 32Outside, the sojourner lodged not for the night, My doors—to the wayfarer, I threw open. 33 If I covered, like Adam, my transgressions, by hiding in my bosom mine iniquity, 34Then let me be made to tremble at a great throng, yea let, the contempt of families, terrify me, so that, keeping silence, I shall not go out of the door! 35Oh that I had one to hear me, Lo! my crossmark, May, the Almighty, answer me! And would that, a book, mine opponent had written! 36Oh! would I not, upon my shoulder, lift it, or bind it as a crown upon me; 37The number of my footsteps, I would declare to him, Like a noble, would I draw near to him. 38If, against me, my ground used to cry out, and, together, my ridges did weep; 39If, the strength thereof, I used to eat, without payment, and, the soul of the holders thereof, I made groan; 40Instead of wheat, let there come forth bramble, and, instead of barley, a bad-smelling weed! Ended are the words of Job.