LEB - Job - 31

31:1  “I made a covenant with my eyes, so how could I look closely upon a virgin?

31:2  And what is the portion of God from above or the heritage of Shaddai from on high?

31:3  Is not disaster for the evil one and ruin for the workers of mischief?

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

31:5  “If I have walked with falseness, and my foot has hastened to deceit,

31:6  let him weigh me in the balance of justice, and let God know my blamelessness.

31:7  If my steps have turned aside from the way, and my heart has walked after my eyes, and my hand has clung to a spot,

31:8  let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be rooted out.

31:9  “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and at my neighbor’s doorway I have lain in wait,

31:10  let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her,

31:11  for that is a shameful act, and that is ⌞a criminal offense⌟.

31:12  Indeed, that is a fire that will consume up to Abaddon, and it would uproot all my crop.

31:13  “If I have rejected my male or female slave’s case when their complaint was against me,

31:14  then what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

31:15  Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

31:16  “If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them, or I have caused the widow’s eyes to fail,

31:17  or I have eaten my morsel ⌞alone⌟, and the orphan has not eaten from it

31:18  (for from my childhood he ⌞grew up with⌟ me like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided her),

31:19  if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing or that there is no covering for the poor,

31:20  if his loins have not blessed me, or by means of my sheep’s fleece he has warmed himself,

31:21  if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,

31:22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

31:23  Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me, and ⌞I was powerless⌟ because of his majesty.

31:24  “If I have made gold my trust, or I have called fine gold my security,

31:25  if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great or because my hand found a fortune,

31:26  if I looked at the sun when it shone or at the moon moving in splendor,

31:27  and ⌞I was secretly enticed⌟, and ⌞my hand threw them a kiss⌟,

31:28  this also is an iniquity to be judged, for I have deceived God above.

31:29  “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me or have exulted when evil overtook him—

31:30  no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin, to ask his life with a curse.

31:31  ⌞Have the people of my tent not said⌟, ‘⌞O that⌟ someone had not been satisfied with his meat’?

31:32  An alien has not lodged in the street; I have opened my door to the traveler.

31:33  ⌞Have I concealed⌟ my transgressions as other human beings to hide my iniquity in my bosom

31:34  because 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?

31:35  ⌞O that⌟ ⌞I had⌟ someone hearing me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! ⌞As for⌟ the written communication that ⌞my adversary⌟ has written,

31:36  I would ⌞surely⌟ carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown.

31:37  I would give him an account of my steps; I would approach him like a noble.

31:38  If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together,

31:39  if I have eaten its yield without payment, or I have caused the breath of its owners to die,

31:40  let thorns grow in place of wheat and noxious weeds in place of barley.” The words of Job are ended.