Job 31
1 “But I made an agreement with my eyes not to look with desire at a girl.
2 What has God above promised for people? What has the Almighty planned from on high?
3 It is ruin for evil people and disaster for those who do wrong.
4 God sees my ways and counts every step I take.
5 “If I have been dishonest or lied to others,
6 then let God weigh me on honest scales. Then he will know I have done nothing wrong.
7 If I have turned away from doing what is right, or my heart has been led by my eyes to do wrong, or my hands have been made unclean,
8 then let other people eat what I have planted, and let my crops be plowed up.
9 “If I have desired another woman or have waited at my neighbor’s door for his wife,
10 then let my wife grind another man’s grain, and let other men have sexual relations with her.
11 That would be shameful, a sin to be punished.
12 It is like a fire that burns and destroys; all I have done would be plowed up.
13 “If I have been unfair to my male and female slaves when they had a complaint against me,
14 how could I tell God what I did? What will I answer when he asks me to explain what I’ve done?
15 God made me in my mother’s womb, and he also made them; the same God formed both of us in our mothers’ wombs.
16 “I have never refused the appeals of the poor or let widows give up hope while looking for help.
17 I have not kept my food to myself but have given it to the orphans.
18 Since I was young, I have been like a father to the orphans. From my birth I guided the widows.
19 I have not let anyone die for lack of clothes or let a needy person go without a coat.
20 That person’s heart blessed me, because I warmed him with the wool of my sheep.
21 I have never hurt an orphan even when I knew I could win in court.
22 If I have, then let my arm fall off my shoulder and be broken at the joint.
23 I fear destruction from God, and I fear his majesty, so I could not do such things.
24 “I have not put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security.’
25 I have not celebrated my great wealth or the riches my hands had gained.
26 I have not thought about worshiping the sun in its brightness nor admired the moon moving in glory
27 so that my heart was pulled away from God. My hand has never offered the sun and moon a kiss of worship.
28 If I had, these also would have been sins to be punished, because I would have been unfaithful to God.
29 “I have not been happy when my enemies fell or laughed when they had trouble.
30 I have not let my mouth sin by cursing my enemies’ life.
31 The servants of my house have always said, ‘All have eaten what they want of Job’s food.’
32 No stranger ever had to spend the night in the street, because I always let travelers stay in my home.
33 I have not hidden my sin as others do, secretly keeping my guilt to myself.
34 I was not so afraid of the crowd
that I kept quiet and stayed inside because I feared being hated by other families.
35 (“How I wish a court would hear my case! Here I sign my name to show I have told the truth.
Now let the Almighty answer me; let the one who accuses me write it down.
36 I would wear the writing on my shoulder; I would put it on like a crown.
37 I would explain to God every step I took, and I would come near to him like a prince.)
38 “If my land cries out against me and its plowed rows are not wet with tears,
39 if I have taken the land’s harvest without paying or have broken the spirit of those who worked the land,
40 then let thorns come up instead of wheat, and let weeds come up instead of barley.”
The words of Job are finished.
Job 31
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin?
2 For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?
5 If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit
6 (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
9 If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door;
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her.
11 For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
12 For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.
13 If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
18 (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother’s womb);
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;
20 If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:
22 Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone.
23 For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
24 If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;
26 If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.
29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;
30 (Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);
31 If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?
32 (The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);
33 If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
34 Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door-
35 Oh that I had one to hear me! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
36 Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder; I would bind it unto me as a crown:
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; As a prince would I go near unto him.
38 If my land crieth out against me, And the furrows thereof weep together;
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, And cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.