11. For that would be a wicked scheme, and a punishable crookedness.
12. For that would be a fire that burns to destruction, and take root among all my increase.
13. If I have refused the plea of my male servant or my female servant when they complained against me,
14. then what should I do when Ěl rises up? And when He punishes, what should I answer Him?
15. Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?
16. If I have withheld the poor from pleasure, or caused the widow’s eyes to fail,
17. or eaten my piece of bread by myself, and the fatherless did not eat of it –
18. but from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided her –
19. if I have seen anyone perish for lack of garments, or a poor one without covering;
20. if his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep;
21. if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the gate;
22. let my arm fall from my shoulder, and my arm be broken from the bone.
23. For I am in dread of destruction from Ěl, and from His excellence I could not escape.