Job 31

1 I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.

“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

2 What should people expect to receive from God? What reward should the Almighty on high give them?

For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?

Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

4 Doesn't God see everything I do—even count every step I take?

Does not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

5 Have I lived a deceitful life? Have I been eager to tell lies?

“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit

6 No! Let God weigh me on the scales of his justice and let him discover my integrity.

(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);

7 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,

if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

8 then let someone else eat what I have sown, and all that I have grown be uprooted.

then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

9 If a woman has seduced me, or if I have looked for an opportunity to sleep with my neighbor's wife,

“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,

10 then let my wife serve another, let other men sleep with her.

then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

11 For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,

For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

12 for this sin is like a fire that leads to destruction, destroying everything I have.

for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

13 If I had refused to listen to my menservants or maidservants when they brought their complaints to me,

“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,

14 what would I do when God came to judge me? How would I reply if he investigated me?

what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him?

15 Didn't the same God make all of us?

Did not he who made me in the womb make him? Did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 Have I refused to give the poor what they needed, or caused widows to despair?

“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 Have I even eaten just a piece of bread by myself? Haven't I always shared my food with orphans?

or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 From when I was young I was a father to orphans and took care of widows.

(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);

19 If ever I saw someone needing clothes, the poor without anything to wear,

if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

20 they always thanked me for the wool clothing that kept them warm.

if his heart has not blessed me, if he has not been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

21 If I raised my hand to hit an orphan, confident that if it came to court the judges would be on my side,

if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate;

22 then let my shoulder be pulled from its joint, my arm wrenched out of its socket.

then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

23 Since I'm terrified of what punishment God may have in store for me, and because of his majesty, I could never do this.

For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.

24 Have I put my trust in gold, calling fine gold, ‘My security’?

“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’

25 Have I delighted in being rich, happy at all my wealth I had gained?

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

26 Have I looked at the sun shining so brilliantly or the moon moving in majesty across the sky

if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,

27 and been tempted to secretly worship them by kissing my hand to them in devotion?

and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;

28 This too would be a sin deserving punishment for it would mean I had denied God above.

this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.

29 Have I ever been happy when disaster destroyed those who hated me, or celebrated when evil took them down?

“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him

30 I have never allowed my mouth to sin by putting a curse on someone's life.

(I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

31 Haven't my family asked, ‘Is there anyone who has not eaten as much as they wanted of his food?’

if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’

32 I have never let strangers sleep in the street; I have opened my doors to travelers.

(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

33 Have I concealed my sins from others, hiding my wrongdoing deep inside me?

if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34 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?

because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door—

35 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.

oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!

36 I would hold them up high; I would wear them on my head like a crown.

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown.

37 I would explain to him everything I'd done; I would hold my head high before him.

I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.

38 If my land has cried out against me; if her furrows have wept over me;

If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;

39 if I have taken its crops without payment or if I have caused harm to the farmers;

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.