Job 31
1 “I solemnly promised myself that I would not look at a young woman with a desire [to have sex with her].
A covenant had I made with my eyes: how then should I fix my look on 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!
And what then would have been my portion of God from above? and what lot of 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 calamity [ready] for the unjust? and misfortune for the wrong-doers?
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.
Behold, he truly seeth my ways, and numbereth all my steps;
5 [“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.
[And knoweth] whether I have walked with vain desires, or if my foot hath hastened after 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 then in a righteous balance, and let God acknowledge my integrity,
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 have turned aside from the [proper] way, and my heart have walked after my eyes, and if any blemish have 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 what I have growing 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 have been beguiled toward a woman, or if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door:
10 I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.
Then may my wife labor at the mill for another, and may strangers ill-use her;
11 [For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.
For this would be incest; yea, it would be an iniquity [to be punished by] the judges;
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)
For it would be a fire that consumeth down to the place of corruption, and would root out all my products.
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 ever I cast aside the justice due to my man-servant and my maid-servant, when they contended with 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]
What then could I do when God should rise up? and when he should investigate, what could 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 make him born or a woman? and did not the same one fashion us 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 ever I denied the wish of the indigent, or ever allowed the eyes of the widow to fall [in vain hopes];
Or if ever I ate my bread by myself alone, and the fatherless did not eat thereof;
(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as though we were of one father, and I have guided her [as though she was sprung] 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 ever I saw any one perishing for want of clothing, or the needy without 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 loins have not blessed me, and if he have not been 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 swung my hand against the fatherless, because I saw in the gate those that would help me:
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 my shoulder-blade, and my arm be broken from the channel-bone;
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 dreaded by me was the calamitous punishment of God, and against his highness I can accomplish nothing.
24 “If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
If I have made gold my confidence, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my trust:
25 or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,
If ever I rejoiced because my wealth was abundant, 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 ever I looked at the light [of the sun] when he shone brightly and on the moon walking in splendor:
27 and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,
And my heart became misled in secret, and my hand kissed 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].
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for thus would I have denied the God that is above.
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 ever I rejoiced at the downfall of him that hated me, or was elated when evil befell him; —
But I suffered not my mouth to sin by denouncing with a curse 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 tent said not, Oh is there one that is not satisfied of his flesh; —
In the street a stranger had not to lodge; my doors I held open to the roadside;
33 Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;
If I covered up my transgressions like a common man, by hiding in my bosom my iniquity;
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.
Because I dreaded the great multitude, or because the contempt of families did terrify me, so that I kept silence, and dared not to go 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.
Oh who will bring me one that would hear me! behold, here is my plea; may the Almighty answer me; and any record which my opponent may have written, —
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].
Surely upon my shoulder would I carry it: I would bind it as a crown unto me.
37 I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.
The number of my steps would I tell him: as [to] a prince would I go near unto him.—
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 ever cried out because of me, or if its furrows wept together;
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 ever consumed its strength without payment, or caused the soul of its owners to grieve:
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 instead of wheat, thorns come forth, and instead of barley, cockle. (Here end the words of Job.)
