Job 31
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.
2 For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?
3 Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?
4 Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?
5 If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
6 let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.
7 If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,
8 then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.
9 If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,
10 then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.
then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
12 For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest.
It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.
13 If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,
If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,
14 what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?
then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?
Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?
16 If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;
17 if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;
18 though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )
19 if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,
20 if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;
22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.
23 For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.
24 If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’
25 if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;
26 if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,
28 this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
29 If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,
30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—
for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
31 if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
32 but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;
33 if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
34 because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—
if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;
35 (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
37 I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—
With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.
38 if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,
39 if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,
40 then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.
then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)
