Job’s Final Appeal

1“ I have made A covenant with my eyes;

and how could I gaze upon a virgin?

2For what would be the portion of God from above,

and the inheritance of Shaddai† in the heights?

3Is not disaster for the perverse one

and calamity for the workers of iniquity?

4Does He not see my ways,

and count all my steps?

5If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hurried toward deceit,

6let Him weigh me in the scales of justice,

and let God know my integrity.

7If my step has turned aside from the way,

and my heart has walked, following my eyes,

and on my palms has stuck a spot,

8then let me sow, and another may eat,

and may my crops be uprooted!

9If my heart has been enticed over a woman,

or I have lain in wait at the door of my neighbor,

10then let my wife grind for another,

and others bend down over her.

11For it is wickedness,

and it is to be judged an iniquity.

12For it is a fire that devours unto Abaddon,†

and it would uproot among all my produce.

13If I have rejected the justice of my manservant or my maidservant,

in their dispute with me,

14then what shall I do when God arises?

And when He inspects, how shall I answer him?

15Did not the One making me in the belly make them,

and that One prepare us in the womb?

16If I have withheld the poor from pleasure

and made to fail the eyes of the widow,

17and have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless could not eat from it—

18indeed from my youth I brought him up as a father,

and from the womb of my mother I guided her—

19if I have seen one perishing from lack of clothing,

or there being no covering for the needy,

20if his loins have not blessed me

for warming him by the fleece of my sheep,

21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

because I saw my help at the gate,

22then let my upper arm fall from its shoulder,

and my arm be broken off from its socket.

23For a calamity from God is dread to me,

and His majesty I cannot overpower.

24If I have set my confidence upon gold,

or to fine gold I have said, “My trust;”

25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

and because my hand had acquired much;

26if I have seen the light† when it shines,

or the moon moving in splendor,

27so that my heart has been enticed in secret,

and my hand has kissed my mouth,

28then this also be judged an iniquity,

for I would have lied to God above.

29If I have rejoiced in the destruction of one hating me,

or raised myself up because evil found him—

30though I had not given my mouth to sin

by asking with a curse for his life—

31if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who will give from his flesh not having been satisfied?’—

32A sojourner does not lodge in the street,

for I have opened my doors to the traveler—

33if I have covered my transgressions like Adam,†

by hiding my guilt in my bosom,

34because I feared the great multitude,

and the contempt of the clans terrified me

and I kept silent,

not going out the door—

35(Who will give to me one listening to me?

Behold, my mark

and let Shaddai answer me!

And the bill the man of my dispute that has written!

36If not, I would take it up upon my shoulder,

and bind it as crowns to myself.

37The count of my steps I would declare to him;

like a prince I would approach Him.)—

38If my land cries out against me,

and together its furrows weep;

39if I have eaten its power without silver,

and I have caused to breathe out the soul of its workers,

40then in place of the wheat let a thorn come forth,

and weeds in place of barley.”

The words of Job have ended.