1 “I have made an agreement with my eyes.

Then how can I look with lust at a virgin?

2 What would God above do ⌞to me⌟?

What would be my inheritance from the Almighty on high?

3 Aren’t there catastrophes for wicked people

and disasters for those who do wrong?

4 Doesn’t he see my ways

and count all my steps?

5 “If I have walked with lies

or my feet have run after deception,

6  ⌞then⌟ let God weigh me on honest scales,

and he will know I have integrity.

7 “If my steps have left the ⌞proper⌟ path,

or my heart has followed ⌞the desire of⌟ my eyes,

or my hands are stained ⌞with sin⌟,

8  ⌞then⌟ let someone else eat what I have planted,

and let my crops be uprooted.

9 “If I have been seduced by a woman

or I have secretly waited near my neighbor’s door,

10  ⌞then⌟ let my wife grind for another ⌞man⌟,

and let other ⌞men⌟ kneel over her.

11 That would be a scandal,

and that would be a criminal offense.

12 It would be a fire that burns even in Abaddon.

It would uproot my entire harvest.

13 “If I have abused the rights of my servants, male or female,

when they have disagreed with me,

14 then what could I do if God rises up?

If he examines me, how could I answer him?

15 Didn’t he who made me in my mother’s belly make them?

Didn’t the same God form us in the womb?

16 “If I have refused the requests of the poor

or made a widow’s eyes stop ⌞looking for help⌟,

17 or have eaten my food alone

without letting the orphan eat any of it….

18 (From my youth the orphan grew up with me

as though I were his father,

and from my birth I treated the widow kindly.)

19 If I have seen anyone die because he had no clothes

or a poor person going naked….

20 (If his body didn’t bless me,

or the wool from my sheep didn’t keep him warm….)

21 If I have shaken my fist at an orphan

because I knew that others would back me up in court,

22  ⌞then⌟ let my shoulder fall out of its socket,

and let my arm be broken at the elbow.

23 “A disaster from God terrifies me.

In the presence of his majesty I can do nothing.

24 “If I put my confidence in gold

or said to fine gold, ‘I trust you’….

25 If I enjoyed being very rich

because my hand had found great ⌞wealth⌟….

26 If I saw the light shine

or the moon move along in its splendor

27 so that my heart was secretly tempted,

and I threw them a kiss with my hand,

28 then that, too, would be a criminal offense,

and I would have denied God above.

29 “If I enjoyed the ruin of my enemy

or celebrated when harm came to him

30 (even though I didn’t speak sinfully

by calling down a curse on his life)….

31 “If the people who were in my tent had said,

‘We wish we had never filled ⌞our stomachs⌟ with his food’….

32 (The visitor never spent the night outside,

because I opened my door to the traveler.)

33 “If I have covered my disobedience like Adam

and kept my sin to myself,

34 because I dreaded the large, noisy crowd

and because the contempt of the ⌞local⌟ mobs terrified me

so that I kept quiet and didn’t go outside….

35 “If only I had someone who would listen to me!

Look, here is my signature!

Let the Almighty answer me.

Let the prosecutor write ⌞his complaint⌟ on a scroll.

36 I would certainly carry it on my shoulder

and place it on my head like a crown.

37 I would tell him the number of my steps

and approach him like a prince.

38 “If my land has cried out against me,

and its furrows have wept….

39 If I have eaten its produce without paying for it

and made its owners breathe their last,

40  ⌞then⌟ let it grow thistles instead of wheat,

and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley.”