AFV2020 - Job - 31

31:1  "I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?

31:2  For what is the portion from God above? And what is the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

31:3  Is not destruction for the wicked, and calamity to the workers of iniquity?

31:4  Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?

31:5  If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hurried to deceit,

31:6  Let me be weighed in an even balance so that God may know that I am blameless.

31:7  If my step has turned out of the way, or my heart has walked after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands;

31:8  Then let me sow, and let another eat; and let my harvests be rooted out.

31:9  If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have laid wait at my neighbor's door,

31:10  Then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.

31:11  For that would be a heinous crime; yea, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

31:12  For it is a fire that devours to destruction, and it would root out all my increase.

31:13  If I despised the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they complained against me;

31:14  What then shall I do when God rises up? And when He calls me to account, what shall I answer Him?

31:15  Did not He who made me in the womb make him also? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

31:16  If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17  Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it—

31:18  For from my youth he grew up with me, as with a father, and from infancy I guided her—

31:19  If I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or there was no covering for the needy;

31:20  If his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep;

31:21  If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless when I watched over my help in the gate;

31:22  Then let my arm fall from the shoulder blade, and let my arm be broken from the elbow.

31:23  For calamity from God is a terror to me, and by reason of His majesty I could do nothing.

31:24  If I have made gold my hope, or have called fine gold my confidence;

31:25  If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

31:26  If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness,

31:27  And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand;

31:28  This also would be an iniquity for the judges to punish; for I would have lied to God who is above.

31:29  If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or exulted myself when evil found him;

31:30  Verily I have not allowed my mouth to sin by wishing for a curse on his life;

31:31  If the men of my tabernacle did not say, 'Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat?'

31:32  The stranger did not sleep in the street, for I opened my doors to the traveler.

31:33  If I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

31:34  Then let me tremble before a great multitude, and be terrified by the scorn of families; and I will be silent and not go out the door.

31:35  Oh, that I had one to hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and the indictment that my adversary had written.

31:36  Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it like a crown upon my head.

31:37  I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would come before Him.

31:38  If my land cry against me, or its furrows weep together;

31:39  If I have eaten its strength without paying for it, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

31:40  Let thorns come forth instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.