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1.
"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.
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2.
For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high?
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3.
Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?
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4.
Does he not see my ways and count my every step?
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5.
"If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit--
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6.
let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless--
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7.
if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled,
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8.
then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
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9.
"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door,
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10.
then may my wife grind another man's grain, and may other men sleep with her.
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11.
For that would have been shameful, a sin to be judged.
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12.
It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest.
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13.
"If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me,
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14.
what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?
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15.
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
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16.
"If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,
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17.
if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless--
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18.
but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow--
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19.
if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment,
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20.
and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,
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21.
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,
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22.
then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint.
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23.
For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.
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24.
"If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,'
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25.
if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained,
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26.
if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
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27.
so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,
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28.
then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.
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29.
"If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him--
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30.
I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life--
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31.
if the men of my household have never said, 'Who has not had his fill of Job's meat?'--
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32.
but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler--
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33.
if I have concealed my sin as men do, by hiding my guilt in my heart
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34.
because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside
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35.
("Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense--let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.
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36.
Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown.
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37.
I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him.)--
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38.
"if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears,
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39.
if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
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40.
then let briers come up instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
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