Job 31
1 “I made a covenant for my eyes, And how do I attend to a virgin?
I vowed to myself never to look with desire at young women.
2 And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?
What should people expect to receive from God? What reward should the Almighty on high give them?
3 Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?
4 Does He not see my ways, And number 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 hurries to deceit,
Have I lived a deceitful life? Have I been eager to tell lies?
6 He weighs me in righteous balances, And God knows my integrity.
No! Let God weigh me on the scales of his justice and let him discover my integrity.
7 If my step turns aside from the way, And my heart has gone after my eyes, And blemish has 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 Let me sow—and another eat, And let my products be rooted out.
then let someone else eat what I have sown, and all that I have grown be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman, And I laid wait by the opening of my neighbor,
If a woman has seduced me, or if I have looked for an opportunity to sleep with my neighbor's wife,
10 Let my wife grind to another, And let others bend over her.
then let my wife serve another, let other men sleep with her.
11 For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;
For that would be wicked, a sin deserving punishment,
12 For it [is] a fire, it consumes to destruction, And takes root among all my increase,
for this sin is like a fire that leads to destruction, destroying everything I have.
13 If I despise the cause of my manservant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
If I had refused to listen to my menservants or maidservants when they brought their complaints to me,
14 Then what do I do when God arises? And when He inspects, What do I answer Him?
what would I do when God came to judge me? How would I reply if he investigated me?
15 Did He that made me in the womb not make him? Indeed, One prepares us in the womb.
Didn't the same God make all of us?
16 If I withhold the poor from pleasure, And consume the eyes of the widow,
Have I refused to give the poor what they needed, or caused widows to despair?
17 And I eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan has nothing [to] eat of it,
Have I even eaten just a piece of bread by myself? Haven't I always shared my food with orphans?
18 (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led),
From when I was young I was a father to orphans and took care of widows.
19 If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering for the needy,
If ever I saw someone needing clothes, the poor without anything to wear,
20 If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He does not warm himself,
they always thanked me for the wool clothing that kept them warm.
21 If I have waved my hand at the fatherless, When I see [him] in the gate of my court,
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 my shoulder fall from its blade, And the bone from my arm be broken.
then let my shoulder be pulled from its joint, my arm wrenched out of its socket.
23 For calamity [from] God [is] a dread to me, And because of His excellence I am not able.
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 confidence, And to the pure gold have said, My trust;
Have I put my trust in gold, calling fine gold, ‘My security’?
25 If I rejoice because my wealth [is] great, And because my hand has found abundance,
Have I delighted in being rich, happy at all my wealth I had gained?
26 If I see the light when it shines, And the precious moon walking,
Have I looked at the sun shining so brilliantly or the moon moving in majesty across the sky
27 And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand kisses my mouth,
and been tempted to secretly worship them by kissing my hand to them in devotion?
28 It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.
This too would be a sin deserving punishment for it would mean I had denied God above.
29 If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,
Have I ever been happy when disaster destroyed those who hated me, or celebrated when evil took them down?
30 Indeed, I have not permitted my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.
I have never allowed my mouth to sin by putting a curse on someone's life.
31 If not, say, O men of my tent: O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.
Haven't my family asked, ‘Is there anyone who has not eaten as much as they wanted of his food?’
32 A stranger does not lodge in the street, I open my doors to the traveler.
I have never let strangers sleep in the street; I have opened my doors to travelers.
33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, To hide my iniquity in my bosom,
Have I concealed my sins from others, hiding my wrongdoing deep inside me?
34 Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families frightens me, Then I am silent, I do not go out of the opening.
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 Who gives to me a hearing? Behold, my mark. The Mighty One answers me, And my adversary has written a bill.
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 If not—on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it [as] a crown on myself.
I would hold them up high; I would wear them on my head like a crown.
37 The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.
I would explain to him everything I'd done; I would hold my head high before him.
38 If my land cries out against me, And together its furrows weep,
If my land has cried out against me; if her furrows have wept over me;
39 If I consumed its strength without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
if I have taken its crops without payment or if I have caused harm to the farmers;
40 Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed!” The words of Job are finished.
then let thorns grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
