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"I made a covenant with my eyes, How then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
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For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
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Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
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Doesn`t he see my ways, And number all my steps?
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"If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot has hurried to deceit
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(Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know my integrity);
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If my step has turned out of the way, If my heart walked after my eyes, If any defilement has stuck to my hands,
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Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
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"If my heart has been enticed to a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor`s door;
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Then let my wife grind for another, And let others sleep with her.
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For that would be a heinous crime; Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
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For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.
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"If I have despised the cause of my man-servant Or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;
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What then shall I do when God rises up? When he visits, what shall I answer him?
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Didn`t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn`t one fashion us in the womb?
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"If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
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Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it
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(No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, Her have I guided from my mother`s womb);
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If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;
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If his heart hasn`t blessed me, If he hasn`t been warmed with my sheep`s fleece;
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If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:
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Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And my arm be broken from the bone.
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For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
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"If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, `You are my confidence;`
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If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;
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If I have seen the sun when it shined, Or the moon moving in splendor,
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And my heart has been secretly enticed, My hand threw a kiss from my mouth:
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This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above.
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"If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;
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(Yes, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);
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If the men of my tent have not said, `Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?`
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(The sojourner has not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveler);
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If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding my iniquity in my heart,
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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--
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Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!
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Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; And I would bind it to me as a crown.
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I would declare to him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go near to him.
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If my land cries out against me, And the furrows of it weep together;
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If I have eaten the fruits of it without money, Or have caused the owners of it to lose their life:
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Let briars grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.