Job 31

1 I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.

“I solemnly promised myself that I would not look at a young woman with a desire [to have sex with her].

2 Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?

[If I did not do what I promised, ] what would God who is in heaven [MTY] do to me [RHQ]? Almighty [God] would certainly not [RHQ] give me any reward!

3 Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.

[Previously I thought that] surely [RHQ] it was unrighteous people who would experience calamities, and that it was those who do what is wrong who would experience disasters.

4 Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?

God certainly sees [RHQ] everything that I do, [so why is he causing me to suffer?] [It is as though] he counts every step that I take.

5 But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:

[“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.

6 (for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence: )

I request only that God judge me fairly [MET], and if he does that, he will know that I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong).

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 [it were true that] I have stopped living righteously, or [that] I [SYN] have desired the things that I look at [MTY], or [that] I am guilty of any other sin,

8 then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.

then I hope/wish that when I plant [seeds], someone else will [harvest the crops and] eat [them] and that others will uproot the [fruit trees] that I planted.

9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

“If [it were true that] I [SYN] have been attracted by some other man’s wife, or [that] I have hidden myself and waited outside [the] door [to] her [house],

10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.

I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.

11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.

[For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.

12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.

My [committing adultery] would [produce in me a fire like] [MET] the fire that burns people in hell, and it would burn up everything that I own. (questioned)

13 And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;

“And, if [it were true that] I have ever refused to listen to one of my male or female servants when they complained to me about something,

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?

God would arise [and declare that he would punish me]; and when he would do that, what would I do? If he would ask me [about what I have done], (what would I answer?/I would not be able to answer.) [RHQ]

15 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yes, we were formed in the same womb.

God, who created me, certainly also created my servants [RHQ]; surely he is the one who formed them and me in our mothers’ wombs [RHQ]; [so we all should behave toward each other equally].

16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.

“I have guided orphans from the time that they were born; I have taken care of them since they were young. So, if [it were true that] I ate all my food myself and did not share some of it with orphans, or [that] I refused to give poor people the things that they wanted, or [that] I caused widows to live (in despair/without hope [that they would receive any help from anyone]),

17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;

18 (for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)

19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;

or [that] I had seen people die [from cold] because they had no clothes, or [that] I had seen poor people who did not have clothes [to keep them warm],

20 and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;

and they were not able to become warm [from clothes made] from the wool of my sheep with the result that they thanked me for [giving them clothes, ]

21 if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:

or if [it were true that] I threatened to strike any orphan because I knew that the elders at the city gates would (decide in my favor);

22 let them my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.

[if those things were true about me], I hope/desire that my shoulder blade would be torn out and my arm be torn from my shoulder.

23 For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I can’t bear up by reason of his burden.

I always feared that God would cause me to experience a great disaster [if I did any of those evil things], and I would not have been able to endure the powerful [things that he would do to punish me].

24 If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;

“If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],

25 and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:

or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,

26 (do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]: )

or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon

27 and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:

and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,

28 let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.

those things also would be sins for which the judges would say that I must be punished, because I would have been rejecting God [by doing those things].

29 And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!

“[It is not true that] I [SYN] sinned by requesting God to curse people who hated me with the result that God would cause them to die. It is also not true that I was glad when they were ruined or that I rejoiced when they experienced disasters [DOU].

30 let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a byword among my people in my affliction.

31 And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:

[It is also not true that] I never welcomed travelers to stay in my tent or that I did not open my doors to them, but [forced them to] sleep in the streets. [All] the men who work for me certainly know that [RHQ]!

32 for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came: )

33 or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;

Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;

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:

and I never remained silent and refused to go outside of my home because I was very (afraid of/worried about) what people would say [about me], and that they would hate/scorn me.

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,

“I wish/desire that there was someone who would hear what I am saying! I solemnly declare [that all that I have said is true]. I wish that those who oppose me would write down [on a scroll] the evil things that they say that I did.

36 I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.

[If they did that, ] I would wear that scroll on my shoulder, or wear it on top of my head, [in order that everyone could see it].

37 And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:

I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.

38 If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;

If [it were true that] I have stolen land, with the result that [it was as though] its furrows cried out to accuse me of stealing;

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]:

or [if it were true that] I have eaten the crops that grew in someone else’s fields without paying [for those crops], with the result that those farmers who grew those crops died [from hunger];

40 then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.

then I wish/desire that thorns would grow [in my fields] instead of wheat. May bad weeds grow instead of barley!” That is the end of what Job said [to his three friends].