Job 31
1 “I solemnly promised myself that I would not look at a young woman with a desire [to have sex with her].
I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.
2 [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!
For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?
3 [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.
Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?
4 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.
Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?
5 [“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.
If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,
6 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).
let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.
7 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,
If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,
8 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.
then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.
9 “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],
If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,
10 I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.
then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.
11 [For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.
For this is a crime and a very great injustice.
12 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)
It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.
13 “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,
If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,
14 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]
then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?
15 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].
Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?
16 “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]),
If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;
if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;
(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; )
19 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],
if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,
20 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, ]
if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 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);
if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;
22 [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.
then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.
23 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].
For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.
24 “If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’
25 or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,
if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;
26 or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon
if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,
27 and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,
so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,
28 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].
which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;
29 “[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].
if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,
for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;
31 [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]!
if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”
for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;
33 Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;
if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;
34 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.
if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;
35 “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.
then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,
36 [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].
which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?
37 I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.
With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.
38 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;
So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,
39 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];
if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,
40 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].
then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)
