Job 31

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

I Made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

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

For what portion of God [is there] from above? and [what] inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

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

[Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?

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

Doth 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 vanity, or if my foot hath hasted 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 hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved 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 my offspring 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 hath been deceived by a woman, or [if] 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 to another, and let others bow down upon her.

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

For this [is] a hainous crime; yea, it [is] 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] consumeth 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 despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-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 shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

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

Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and 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 myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;

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

(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a father, and 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 any poor without covering;

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

If his loins have not blessed me, and [if] he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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, when 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 arm fall from my 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 destruction [from] God [was] a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

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

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] 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 gained much;

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

If I have beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking [in] brightness;

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

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

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

This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that 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 that hated me, or have lifted up myself when evil found him:

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

Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.

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 tabernacle have not said, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

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

The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveler.

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

If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:

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?

Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, [and] went not 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 one would hear me! behold, my desire [is], [that] the Almighty would answer me, and [that] my adversary had written a book.

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

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, [and] bind it [as] a crown to me.

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; as a prince would I go near to him.

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

If my land crieth against me, or its furrows likewise complain;

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

If I have eaten the fruits of it 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 thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.