31:1 I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

31:2 For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?

31:4 Doesn`t he see my ways, And number all my steps?

31:5 If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has hurried to deceit

31:6 (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know my integrity);

31:7 If my step has turned out of the way, If my heart walked after my eyes, If any defilement has stuck to my hands,

31:8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

31:9 If my heart has been enticed to a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor`s door;

31:10 Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her.

31:11 For that would be a heinous crime; Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

31:12 For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.

31:13 If I have despised the cause of my man-servant Or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;

31:14 What then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him?

31:15 Didn`t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn`t one fashion us in the womb?

31:16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

31:18 (No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, Her have I guided from my mother`s womb);

31:19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;

31:20 If his heart hasn`t blessed me, If he hasn`t been warmed with my sheep`s fleece;

31:21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:

31:22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And my arm be broken from the bone.

31:23 For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of his majesty I can do nothing.

31:24 If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, `You are my confidence;`

31:25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;

31:26 If I have seen the sun when it shined, Or the moon moving in splendor,

31:27 And my heart has been secretly enticed, My hand threw a kiss from my mouth:

31:28 This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above.

31:29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

31:30 (Yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);

31:31 If the men of my tent have not said, `Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?`

31:32 (The sojourner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler);

31:33 If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart,

31:34 Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and didn`t go out of the door--

31:35 Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!

31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown.

31:37 I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him.

31:38 If my land cries out against me, And the furrows of it weep together;

31:39 If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life: