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, I solemnised for mine eyes, —How then could I gaze 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!
Or what would have been my portion of GOD from above? Or what inheritance 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 there not calamity, for the perverse? and misfortune, for the workers of 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.
Would, he, not see my ways? and of all my steps, take account?
5 [“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.
Verily I walked not in falsity, nor did my foot haste unto 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 balances of righteousness, —and let GOD take note of mine 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 goings have swerved from the way, —and, after mine eyes, hath gone my heart, and, to my hands, hath adhered any stain,
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.
Let me sow but, another, eat. And let, what I have springing up, be uprooted!
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 enticed unto a woman, or, by the door of my neighbour, I have lien in wait,
10 I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.
Let my wife, grind to another, and, over her, let others bend!
11 [For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.
Surely that had been a shameful thing! and that an iniquity for 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)
Surely, a fire, had that been, which, unto destruction, would have consumed, and, of all mine increase, had it torn up the root.
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 refused the right of my servant, or my handmaid, 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 have done when GOD rose up? And, when he visited, what could I have answered 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 who, in the womb, made me, make him? And is not he who formed us in the body one?
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 withheld—from pleasure—the poor, or, the eyes of the widow, I dimmed;
Or, used to eat my morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof;
Surely, from my youth, he grew up to me, as to a father, and, from my birth, I acted as guide to her:
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 saw one perishing for lack of clothing, or that the needy 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 loins did not bless me, or if, with the fleece of my lambs, he did not warm himself;
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 shook—against the fatherless—my hand, when I saw, in the gate, his need of my help,
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, from the shoulder-blade, fall, and, my arm, from the upper bone, 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, a dread unto me, was calamity from GOD, and, from his majesty, I could not escape.
24 “If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],
If I made gold my stay, and, to precious metal, said, My confidence!
25 or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,
If I rejoiced because great was my substance, and, an abundance, my hand had discovered;
26 or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon
If I looked at the sun, when it flashed forth light, or at the moon, majestically marching along;
27 and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,
And befooled secretly was my heart, so that 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].
That too, had been a judicial iniquity, For I should have been false to GOD, 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 rejoiced in the misfortune of him that hated me, or exulted when calamity found him; —
Neither did I suffer my palate to sin, by asking, with a curse, for his life:
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 household have not said, Oh for some of his flesh—we cannot get filled,
Outside, the sojourner lodged not for the night, My doors—to the wayfarer, I threw open.
33 Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;
If I covered, like Adam, my transgressions, by hiding in my bosom mine 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.
Then let me be made to tremble at a great throng, yea let, the contempt of families, terrify me, so that, keeping silence, I shall not 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 that I had one to hear me, Lo! my crossmark, May, the Almighty, answer me! And would that, a book, mine opponent had 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].
Oh! would I not, upon my shoulder, lift it, or bind it as a crown upon 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 footsteps, I would declare to him, Like a noble, would I draw near to 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, against me, my ground used to cry out, and, together, my ridges did weep;
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, the strength thereof, I used to eat, without payment, and, the soul of the holders thereof, I made groan;
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].
Instead of wheat, let there come forth bramble, and, instead of barley, a bad-smelling weed! Ended are the words of Job.
