1 "I made a covenant with my eyes; how, then, can I focus my attention on a virgin?
2 What would I have from God above, what heritage from the Almighty on high,
3 if not calamity that is due the unjust, and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?
4 He watches my life, observing every one of my actions, does he not?"
5 "If I've lived my life in the company of vanity, or run quickly to embrace deception,
6 let my righteousness be weighed in honest scales, and God will make known my integrity.
7 If I have stepped away from the way, or if my heart covets whatever my eyes see, or if some other blemish clings to my hands,
8 what I've planted, let another eat or let my crops be uprooted."
9 "If my heart has been seduced by a woman and I've laid in wait at my friend's door,
10 then let my wife cook for another person and may someone else sleep with her,
11 because something as lascivious as that is an iniquity that should be judged.
12 The fires of Abaddon will burn, disrupting every part of my eternal reward."
13 "If I've refused to help my male and female servants when they complain against me,
14 what will I do when God stands up to act? When he asks the questions, how will I answer him?
15 The one who made me in the womb made them, too, didn't he? Didn't the same one prepare each of us in the womb?"
16 "If I refused to grant the desire of the poor or exhausted the eyes of the widow,
17 if I ate my meals by myself without feeding orphans,
18 (even a poor man had grown up with me as if I were his father, and even though I had guided the widow from the time I was born),
19 if I've observed someone who is about to die for lack of clothes or if I have no clothing to give to the poor,
20 if he hadn't thanked me from the bottom of his heart, if he had not been warmed by wool from my sheep,
21 if I've raised my hand against an orphan when I thought I would against him in court,
22 then let my arm fall from its socket; and may my arm be torn off at the shoulder.
23 For I'm terrified of what calamity God may have in store for me; and I cannot endure his grandeur."
24 "If I've put my confidence in gold, if I've told gold, "You're my security,'
25 if I've found joy in great wealth that I own, if I've earned a lot with my own hands,
26 if I look at the sun when it shines or the moon as it rises in steady splendor,
27 so that in the depths of my deceived heart I worshipped them with my mouth and hands,
28 this is also a sin that deserves to be judged, since I would have tried to deceive God above."
29 "Have I rejoiced in the destruction of those who hate me, or have I been happy that evil caught up with him?
30 No, I haven't allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse.
31 People in my household have said, "We cannot find anyone who has not been satisfied with his meat,' haven't they?
32 No stranger ever spent the night in the street, because I opened my doors to travelers."
33 "Have I covered my transgression like other people, to conceal iniquity within myself?
34 Have I feared large crowds? Has my family's contempt ever terrified me so that I remained silent and wouldn't go outside?"
35 "Who will grant me a hearing? Here's my signature let the Almighty answer! Since my adversary indicted me,
36 I'll wear it on my shoulder, or tie it on my head for a crown!
37 I'll give an account for every step I've taken; I'll approach him confidently like a Commander-in-Chief."
38 "If my land were to cry out against me or if all its furrows wept as one,
39 If I've consumed its produce without paying for it and snuffed out the life of its owners;
40 may thorns spring up instead of wheat, and obnoxious weeds instead of barley." With this, Job's discourse with his friends is completed.