23. For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I could not endure.
24. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, You are my confidence;
25. If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
26. If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in brightness;
27. And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand:
28. This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
29. If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30. Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
31. If the men of my tent have not, Oh that we had of his meat! we cannot be satisfied.
32. The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.
33. If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:
34. Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35. Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book.
36. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
37. I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
38. If my land cries against me, and its furrows likewise complain;
39. If I have eaten its fruit without payment, or have caused its owners to lose their life: