Job 31

1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; how then should I look upon a maid?

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

2 For what would be the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

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

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

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

4 Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?

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

5 If I have walked with vanity, and my foot hath hasted to deceit —

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

6 Let me be weighed in a just balance, that God may know mine integrity —

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

7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after mine eyes, and if any spot hath cleaved to 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 another eat; yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

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

9 If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;

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 grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

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

11 For that were a heinous crime; yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,

12 For it is a fire that consumeth unto destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

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

13 If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended 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 when God riseth up? And when He remembereth, what shall I answer Him?

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

15 Did not He that made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?

Didn't the same God make all of us?

16 If I have withheld aught that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

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

17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof —

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

18 Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have been her guide from my mother's womb.

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

19 If I have seen any wanderer in want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

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

20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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

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

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

22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.

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

23 For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of His majesty I could do nothing.

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 have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold: 'Thou art my confidence';

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

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

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

26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

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

27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, and my mouth hath kissed my hand;

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

28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have lied to God that is above.

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

29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or exulted when evil found him —

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

30 Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse.

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

31 If the men of my tent said not: 'Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat?'

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

32 The stranger did not lodge in the street; my doors I opened to the roadside.

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

33 If after the manner of men I covered my transgressions, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom —

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

34 Because I feared the great multitude, and the most contemptible among families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door.

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 one to hear me! — Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me — and that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!

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 Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown.

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

37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

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

38 If my land cry out against me, and the furrows thereof weep together;

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

39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the tillers thereof to be disappointed —

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

40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and noisome weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

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