Job 31
1 “I made a covenant with my eyes; how, then, could I gaze at a young woman?
2 What share would I have from God above, what inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Isn’t ruin for the wicked, and disaster for those who do wrong?
4 Doesn’t he see my ways and count all my steps?
5 Have I walked in falsehood, or has my foot hurried after deceit?
6 Let him weigh me on an honest scale, and God will know my integrity.
7 Have my steps turned from the path, has my heart followed my eyes, or has any stain stuck to my hands?
8 Then let me sow and another eat, and let my descendants be uprooted.
9 Has my heart been enticed by a woman, or have I lurked at my neighbor’s door?
10 Then let my wife grind for another man, and let other men lie with her.
11 For that would be a disgrace, a crime for the judges to punish.
12 For it is a fire that devours down to Abaddon and would uproot all my harvest.
13 Have I denied my male or female servant justice when they brought a complaint against me?”
14 “What would I do if God rose up? If he called me to account, what could I answer?
15 Didn’t the one who made me in the womb make them too? Didn’t the same one form us in the womb?
16 Have I denied the poor what they desired, or let the widow’s eyes grow dim?
17 Have I eaten my share of bread alone, without the orphan eating any of it?
18 For from my youth he raised me as a father would, and from my mother’s womb I cared for her.
19 Have I seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy person with nothing to cover them?
20 Surely his loins blessed me, as he warmed himself with the wool of my lambs.
21 Have I raised my hand against an orphan, when I saw my support at the gate?
22 Then let my shoulder fall from its socket, and my arm be broken at the bone!
23 For God’s disaster was a terror to me; faced with his majesty, I could not stand.
24 Have I made gold my hope, or said to pure gold, ‘You are my trust’?
25 Have I rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gained so much?
26 Have I looked at the light as it shone, or at the moon moving in splendor?
27 Has my heart been secretly enticed, and has my hand kissed my mouth?”
28 “That too would be a crime for the judges, for I would have denied the God above.
29 Have I rejoiced at the ruin of someone who hated me, or been glad when trouble found him?
30 No, I have not let my mouth sin by calling down a curse on his life.
31 Surely the men of my tent have said, ‘Who has not had his fill of his meat?’
32 The foreigner did not spend the night in the street; I opened my doors to the traveler.
33 Have I hidden my transgressions like Adam, concealing my guilt in my breast?
34 Was it because I feared the great crowd, or because the contempt of the clans terrified me, that I kept silent and did not go out through the door?
35 If only someone would hear me! Here is my signature: let the Almighty answer me. Let the one who brings charges against me write the document.
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
37 I would tell him the number of my steps; I would approach him like a prince.
38 Has my land cried out against me, and have its furrows wept together?
39 Have I eaten its produce without paying, or caused its owner to lose his life?
40 Let thornbush grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
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