31:1 “I made a covenant with 1 my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? 2
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty 3 on high?
31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
31:4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
31:5 If 4 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 5 my foot has hastened 6 to deceit –
31:6 let him 7 weigh me with honest 8 scales;
then God will discover 9 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 10
or if anything 11 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 12 and let another eat,
and let my crops 13 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 14
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 15 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 16
31:11 For I would have committed 17 a shameful act, 18
an iniquity to be judged. 19
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 20
and it would uproot 21 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 22 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 23
when he intervenes, 24
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 25
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 26
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans 27 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 28 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 29
I guided the widow! 30
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 31
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 32
31:21 if I have raised my hand 33 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 34
31:22 then 35 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 36
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 37
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 38
and by reason of his majesty 39 I was powerless.