I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin
For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep
Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice
Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps
If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness
let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity
If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands
then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated
If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door
then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her
For this is a crime and a very great injustice
It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth
If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me
then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him
Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb
If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait
if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it
(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;
if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering
if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep
if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate
then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken
For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear
If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;
if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained
if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly
so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth
which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God
if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him
for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul
if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,
for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler
if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom
if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door
then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book
which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown
With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince
So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it
if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers
then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.