Job 31

1 A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what — do I attend to a virgin?

“I solemnly promised myself that I would not look at a young woman with a desire [to have sex with her].

2 And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?

[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!

3 Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?

[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.

4 Doth not He see my ways, And all my steps number?

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.

5 If I have walked with vanity, And my foot doth hasten to deceit,

[“I solemnly declare that] I have never acted wickedly and have never tried to deceive people.

6 He doth weigh me in righteous balances, And God doth know my integrity.

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).

7 If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,

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,

8 Let me sow — and another eat, And my products let be rooted out.

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.

9 If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,

“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],

10 Grind to another let my wife, And over her let others bend.

I hope/desire that my wife will become the servant/slave of another man and have sex [EUP] with him.

11 For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;

[For me to do] that would be a terrible sin, and the judges would decide that I should be punished.

12 For a fire it [is], to destruction it consumeth, And among all mine increase doth take root,

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)

13 If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,

“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,

14 Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him?

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]

15 Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.

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].

16 If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume,

“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]),

17 And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,

18 (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)

19 If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy,

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],

20 If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself,

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, ]

21 If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in [him] the gate of my court,

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);

22 My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken.

[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.

23 For a dread unto me [is] calamity [from] God, And because of His excellency I am not able.

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].

24 If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, 'My trust,'

“If [it were true that] I trusted in my gold/money [DOU],

25 If I rejoice because great [is] my wealth, And because abundance hath my hand found,

or that I rejoiced because I had acquired many things and had become very rich,

26 If I see the light when it shineth, And the precious moon walking,

or that I looked at the sun when it was shining or looked at the beautiful moon

27 And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand doth kiss my mouth,

and I [SYN] had been tempted [to worship them] by kissing my hand to revere them,

28 It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.

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].

29 If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,

“[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].

30 Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.

31 If not — say ye, O men of my tent, 'O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.'

[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]!

32 In the street doth not lodge a stranger, My doors to the traveller I open.

33 If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity,

Some people try to hide their sins, but I have never done that;

34 Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families doth affright me, Then I am silent, I go not out of the opening.

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.

35 Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.

“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.

36 If not — on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself.

[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].

37 The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.

I would tell [God] everything that I have done, and I would approach him [confidently], like a ruler would.

38 If against me my land doth cry out, And together its furrows weep,

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;

39 If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,

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];

40 Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! The words of Job are finished.

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].