Job 31

Job 31

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes;[#Mt 5.28]

how, then, could I look upon a virgin?

²What would be my portion from God above

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Does not calamity befall the unrighteous

and disaster the workers of iniquity?

⁴Does he not see my ways[#2 Chr 16.9; Prov 5.21]

and number all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood,[#Mic 2.11]

and my foot has hurried to deceit—

⁶let me be weighed in a just balance,[#Job 6.2, 3; 27.5, 6]

and let God know my integrity!—

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way,[#Job 23.11]

and my heart has followed my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands,

⁸then let me sow and another eat,[#Lev 26.16]

and let what grows for me be rooted out.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman[#Job 24.15]

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

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another,[#Jer 8.10]

and let other men kneel over her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;[#Gen 38.24; Deut 22.22–24]

that would be a criminal offense;

¹²for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,[#Job 15.30; 20.28; 26.6]

and it would burn to the root all my harvest.

¹³“If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,[#Deut 24.14, 15]

when they brought a complaint against me,

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them?[#Mal 2.10]

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired[#Job 20.19; 22.7, 9]

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone[#Job 22.7; 29.12]

and the orphan has not eaten from it—

¹⁸for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father,[#31.18 Heb him]

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing

or a poor person without covering,

²⁰whose loins have not blessed me,[#Deut 31.20]

and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan[#Job 22.9]

because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,[#Job 38.15]

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

²³For I was in terror of calamity from God,[#v 3 ; Job 13.11]

and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴“If I have made gold my trust[#Mk 10.24]

or called fine gold my confidence,

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great[#Ps 62.10]

or because my hand had gotten much,

²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone[#Deut 4.19; Ezek 8.16; #31.26 Heb the light]

or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,[#v 11]

for I should have been false to God above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me[#Prov 17.5]

or exulted when evil overtook them—

³⁰I have not let my mouth sin[#Mt 5.44]

by asking for their lives with a curse—

³¹if those of my tent ever said,[#Job 22.7]

‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’—

³²the stranger has not lodged in the street;[#Gen 19.2, 3; Rom 12.13]

I have opened my doors to the traveler—

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,[#Gen 3.8; Prov 28.13; #31.33 Or as Adam did]

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude,[#Ex 23.2]

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence and did not go out of doors—

³⁵O that I had one to hear me![#Job 19.7; 30.20, 24, 28; 35.14]

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)

O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps;[#v 4 ; Job 1.3; 29.25]

like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸“If my land has cried out against me[#Gen 4.10, 11]

and its furrows have wept together,

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment[#Lev 19.13; 1 Kings 21.19; Jas 5.4]

and caused the death of its owners,

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat[#Gen 3.18]

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.