< Job 31 >

1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.
2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
What should people expect to receive from God? What reward should the Almighty on high give them?
3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?
4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
Doesn't God see everything I do—even count every step I take?
5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
Have I lived a deceitful life? Have I been eager to tell lies?
6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )
No! Let God weigh me on the scales of his justice and let him discover my integrity.
7 if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;
If I have wandered from God's way, if I have let what I see become my desires, if there's any stain of sin on my hands,
8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
then let someone else eat what I have sown, and all that I have grown be uprooted.
9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
If a woman has seduced me, or if I have looked for an opportunity to sleep with my neighbor's wife,
10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
then let my wife serve another, let other men sleep with her.
11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,
12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
for this sin is like a fire that leads to destruction, destroying everything I have.
13 And if too I despised the judgement of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
If I had refused to listen to my menservants or maidservants when they brought their complaints to me,
14 what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?
what would I do when God came to judge me? How would I reply if he investigated me?
15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.
Didn't the same God make all of us?
16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
Have I refused to give the poor what they needed, or caused widows to despair?
17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
Have I even eaten just a piece of bread by myself? Haven't I always shared my food with orphans?
18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
From when I was young I was a father to orphans and took care of widows.
19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
If ever I saw someone needing clothes, the poor without anything to wear,
20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
they always thanked me for the wool clothing that kept them warm.
21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
If I raised my hand to hit an orphan, confident that if it came to court the judges would be on my side,
22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
then let my shoulder be pulled from its joint, my arm wrenched out of its socket.
23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.
Since I'm terrified of what punishment God may have in store for me, and because of his majesty, I could never do this.
24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
Have I put my trust in gold, calling fine gold, ‘My security’?
25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
Have I delighted in being rich, happy at all my wealth I had gained?
26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )
Have I looked at the sun shining so brilliantly or the moon moving in majesty across the sky
27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
and been tempted to secretly worship them by kissing my hand to them in devotion?
28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
This too would be a sin deserving punishment for it would mean I had denied God above.
29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
Have I ever been happy when disaster destroyed those who hated me, or celebrated when evil took them down?
30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword amongst my people in my affliction.
I have never allowed my mouth to sin by putting a curse on someone's life.
31 And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
Haven't my family asked, ‘Is there anyone who has not eaten as much as they wanted of his food?’
32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )
I have never let strangers sleep in the street; I have opened my doors to travelers.
33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
Have I concealed my sins from others, hiding my wrongdoing deep inside me?
34 (for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them: ) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:
Was I afraid of what everybody else would think, scared of the contempt families would show me, so that I kept quiet and didn't go outside?
35 (Oh that I had a hearer, ) and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,
Why won't anyone listen to what I'm saying! I'm signing my name to endorse everything I've said. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write down what he is charging me with.
36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
I would hold them up high; I would wear them on my head like a crown.
37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
I would explain to him everything I'd done; I would hold my head high before him.
38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
If my land has cried out against me; if her furrows have wept over me;
39 and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if I too grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [anything] from [him]:
if I have taken its crops without payment or if I have caused harm to the farmers;
40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

< Job 31 >