²⁴ “If I have made gold my trust,
    or called fine gold my confidence;
²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
    or because my hand had gotten much;
²⁶ if I have looked at the sun^[a] when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
²⁷ and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand;
²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I should have been false to God above.

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
³⁰ (I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse);
³¹ if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
³² (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the wayfarer);
³³ if I have concealed my transgressions from men,^[b]
    by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
³⁴ because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
³⁵ Oh, that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!)
    Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
³⁶ Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
    I would bind it on me as a crown;
³⁷ I would give him an account of all my steps;
    like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸ “If my land has cried out against me,
    and its furrows have wept together;
³⁹ if I have eaten its yield without payment,
    and caused the death of its owners;
⁴⁰ let thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”