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 made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon 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 part should God from above have in me, and what inheritance the Almighty from on high?
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 to the wicked, and aversion to them that work iniquity?
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.
Doth not he consider 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, and my foot hath made haste to deceit:
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 step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart hath followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved 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 let me sow and let another eat: and let my offspring be rooted out.
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 hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait 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.
Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie with 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 heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity.
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 that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring.
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 to abide judgment with my manservant, or my maidservant, when they had any controversy 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]
For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when he shall examine, what shall I answer 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].
Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: 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 to the poor what they desired, and have made the eyes of the widow wait:
If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof:
(For from my infancy mercy grew up 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 despised him that was perishing for want of clothing, and the poor man that had no 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 against the fatherless, even when I saw myself superior in 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.
Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm with 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 as waves swelling over me, and his weight I was not able to bear.
24 “If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine gold: My confidence:
25 or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,
If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand had gotten much.
26 or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon
If I beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon going in brightness:
27 and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,
And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have 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 downfall of him that hated me, and have rejoiced that evil had found him.
For I have not given my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to 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 of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give us of his flesh that we may be filled?
The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the traveller.
33 Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;
If as a man I have hid 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 have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the contempt of kinsmen hath terrified me: and I have not rather held my peace, and not gone out of 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.
Who would grant me a hearer, that the Almighty may hear my desire; and that he himself that judgeth would 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].
That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as a crown?
37 I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.
At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it as 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;
If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof mourn:
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 eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have afflicted the soul of the tillers thereof:
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].
Let thistles grow up to me instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley.
