Job

I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

1I made a promise about my eyes. So why would I look at a young woman with desire?

2For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

2If I broke that promise, what would God above give me? What share would the Almighty on high hand out?

3Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?

3Doesn't ruin come to people who do wrong? Doesn't disaster fall on those who cause harm?

4Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

4Doesn't God see everything I do? Doesn't he count every step I take?

5If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

5If I have lived a lie, or hurried to cheat someone,

6Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.

6then let God weigh me on honest scales. Then he will know I am honest.

7If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

7If I have left the right path, if my heart chased whatever my eyes wanted, if my hands are dirty with wrong,

8Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

8then let someone else eat what I plant. Let my crops be pulled up by the roots.

9If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

9If my heart has been pulled toward another man's wife, or if I have waited outside his door,

10Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

10then let my own wife grind grain for another man, and let other men sleep with her.

11For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

11That would be a terrible crime. It is the kind of wrong that judges must punish.

12For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

12It is a fire that burns everything down to ruin. It would destroy all I have grown.

13If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

13If I have refused to listen to my servant, man or woman, when they had a complaint against me,

14What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

14then what would I do when God stands up to judge? When he asks me, what could I say?

15Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

15Didn't the God who made me in the womb make them too? Didn't the same One form us both?

16If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

16If I have refused the poor what they needed, or made a widow wait until her eyes grew tired,

17Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

17if I have eaten my food alone and shared none of it with a child who had no father,

18(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)

18But from the time I was young I raised that child as a father would. All my life I guided the widow.

19If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

19If I have seen anyone dying because he had no clothes, or a poor man with nothing to cover him,

20If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

20if he did not thank me from his heart for warming him with wool from my sheep,

21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:

21if I ever raised my hand against a child with no father, because I knew the court would take my side,

Note"My help in the gate" means Job had friends and influence with the judges. Cases were heard at the town gate.

22Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

22then let my arm fall off at the shoulder. Let it be torn out of its socket.

23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

23Ruin from God frightens me. I could never stand up against how great he is.

24If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

24If I have put my hope in gold, or told fine gold, "You are what keeps me safe,"

25If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;

25if I was proud that my riches were great and that my own hand had gained so much,

26If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

26if I looked at the sun shining, or the moon moving in its brightness,

27And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

27and my heart was secretly drawn to worship them, and I blew them a kiss with my hand,

NoteKissing your hand toward the sun or moon was a way of worshiping them.

28This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

28that too would be a sin for the judge to punish, because I would be turning my back on God above.

29If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

29If I was glad when someone who hated me was ruined, or cheered when trouble found him,

30Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

30No, I never let my mouth sin by asking for his death with a curse.

31If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

31The men in my household always said that no one ever left my table hungry.

NoteThe KJV wording here is hard to follow. Job's household is saying that everyone got plenty to eat at his table.

32The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

32No stranger ever had to sleep in the street. I kept my door open to travelers.

33If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

33If I have covered up my sins the way Adam did, hiding my guilt inside me,

34Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

34if I stayed silent and would not go outside, because I was afraid of the crowd and the scorn of families,

35Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

35Oh, if only someone would listen to me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write down his charge.

Note"That mine adversary had written a book" means Job wants his accuser to put the charge in writing, like a formal legal complaint.

36Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

36I would carry that written charge on my shoulder for everyone to see. I would wear it like a crown.

37I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

37I would give him an account of every step I have taken. I would walk up to him like a prince.

38If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

38If my land cries out against me, and its plowed rows weep together,

39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

39if I have eaten its crops without paying, or crushed the lives of the people who worked it,

40Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

40then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and stinking weeds instead of barley. These are the last words of Job.