Job 31

Job’s Final Defense Continued

1“I made a covenant with my eyes,

so how could I look closely upon a virgin?

2And what is the portion of God from above

or the heritage of Shaddai from on high?

3Is not disaster for the evil one

and ruin for the workers of mischief?

4Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

5“If I have walked with falseness,

and my foot has hastened to deceit,

6let him weigh me in the balance of justice,

and let God know my blamelessness.

7If my steps have turned aside from the way,

and my heart has walked after my eyes,

and my hand has clung to a spot,

8let me sow, and let another eat,

and let my crops be rooted out.

9“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and at my neighbor’s doorway I have lain in wait,

10let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her,

11for that is a shameful act,

and that is a criminal offense.

12Indeed, that is a fire that will consume up to Abaddon,

and it would uproot all my crop.

13“If I have rejected my male or female slave’s case[#Hebrew “and”]

when their complaint was against me,

14then what shall I do when God rises up?[#Hebrew “and”]

And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

15Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16“If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them,

or I have caused the widow’s eyes to fail,

17or I have eaten my morsel alone,[#Literally “to alone me”]

and the orphan has not eaten from it

18(for from my childhood he grew up with me like a father,[#Probably referring to “the orphan”; #Literally “reared”]

and from my mother’s womb I guided her),

19if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing

or that there is no covering for the poor,

20if his loins have not blessed me,

or by means of my sheep’s fleece he has warmed himself,

21if I have raised my hand against an orphan

because I saw my supporters at the gate,

22then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me,

and I was powerless because of his majesty.

24“If I have made gold my trust,

or I have called fine gold my security,

25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great

or because my hand found a fortune,

26if I looked at the sun when it shone

or at the moon moving in splendor,

27and I was secretly enticed,[#Literally “it was gullible in the secrecy of my heart”]

and my hand threw them a kiss,

28this also is an iniquity to be judged,

for I have deceived God above.

29“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me

or have exulted when evil overtook him—

30no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin,[#Hebrew “and”]

to ask his life with a curse.

31Have the people of my tent not said,[#Literally “If the people of my tent have not said”]

‘O that someone had not been satisfied with his meat’?

32An alien has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my door to the traveler.

33Have I concealed my transgressions as other human beings[#Literally “If I have concealed”]

to hide my iniquity in my bosom

34because I dreaded the great multitude,

and the contempt of clans terrified me,

so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of the doorway?

35O that I had someone hearing me![#Literally “Who shall give”; #Literally “for me”]

Here is my signature;

let Shaddai answer me!

As for the written communication that my adversary has written,

36I would surely carry it on my shoulder;[#Literally “if not”]

I would bind it on me like a crown.

37I would give him an account of my steps;

I would approach him like a noble.

38If my land has cried out against me,

and its furrows have wept together,

39if I have eaten its yield without payment,

or I have caused the breath of its owners to die,

40let thorns grow in place of wheat

and noxious weeds in place of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

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