The Contrast With the Past

24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man

when he cries for help in his distress.

25  Have I not wept for the unfortunate?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26  But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

27  My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;

the days of my affliction confront me.

28  I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

29  I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.

30  My skin has turned dark on me;

my body is hot with fever.

31  My harp is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

2  What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?

3  Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

4  Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

5  If I have walked in falsehood,

and if my foot has hastened to deceit –

6  let him weigh me with honest scales;

then God will discover my integrity.

7  If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes,

or if anything has defiled my hands,

8  then let me sow and let another eat,

and let my crops be uprooted.

9  If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her.

11  For I would have committed a shameful act,

an iniquity to be judged.

12  For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,

and it would uproot all my harvest.

13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed with me,

14  then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;

when he intervenes,

how will I respond to him?

15  Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

16  If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans –

18  but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,

and from my mother’s womb

I guided the widow!

19  If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

20  whose heart did not bless me

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court,

22  then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let my arm be broken off at the socket.

23  For the calamity from God was a terror to me,

and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

25  if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,

or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

26  if I looked at the sun when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

27  so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

28  then this also would be iniquity to be judged,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy

or exulted because calamity found him –

30  I have not even permitted my mouth to sin

by asking for his life through a curse –

31  if the members of my household have never said,

‘If only there were someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –

32  But no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler –

33  if I have covered my transgressions as men do,

by hiding iniquity in my heart,

34  because I was terrified of the great multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors –